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People with type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke who sleep well have better cognitive function and greater brain volume than people with the same conditions who sleep poorly, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet. The researchers believe that good sleep may help counteract the negative effects on the brain associated with these conditions.

Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke—collectively referred to as cardiometabolic diseases—are linked to an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Researchers have now investigated whether healthy sleep can mitigate these associations.

The results are presented in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The study is based on data from over 400,000 middle-aged and older people in the UK Biobank, of whom just over 54,000 had at least one cardiometabolic disease. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans of the brain were also available for nearly 35,000 of the study participants. Sleep was assessed based on five self-reported factors: sleep duration, circadian rhythm, insomnia, snoring and daytime sleepiness.

People with cardiometabolic disease who slept well performed slightly better on tests of general cognition, problem-solving ability and processing speed than those with the same conditions who slept poorly. They also had significantly larger total brain volume, as well as greater volumes of gray and white matter. The link between sleep and brain structure was more pronounced in people with type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke than in those without these conditions.

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