Whether it’s diet or exercise – the lifestyle you cultivate when you’re young has health effects later in life. Researchers have now been able to show that this connection also plays a role in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Scientists at Stockholm University have identified a factor that appears to be linked to MS: lack of sleep. Good and sufficiently long sleep is important for the regeneration processes of our body. More and more studies are providing insights into the connections between sleep and our health. For example, there is evidence that people between the ages of 50 and 70 who do not sleep enough have an increased risk of dementia (FITBOOK reported). But sleep is apparently important at any age and also protects against various other diseases. According to the Swedish researchers, teenagers who do not get enough sleep have an increased risk of developing the insidious neurological disease multiple sclerosis (MS) in later life.1 That’s why it’s important for teenagers to develop good sleep hygiene.
What is multiple sclerosis?
It is believed that multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease. The nerve fibers in the brain, in the eyes and in the spinal cord are gradually damaged over the years and ultimately destroyed.2 This manifests itself in flare-ups in those affected, with good and bad phases during the chronic illness. Symptoms include vision problems, impaired movement and balance. So far the disease cannot be cured. FITBOOK reported on actress Christina Applegate’s illness and what early signs to look out for. In Germany, around 250,000 people are currently affected by MS.3
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Sleep comparison between healthy and sick subjects
For their study, the scientists chose 2,075 people suffering from multiple sclerosis and 3,164 healthy subjects. The ages of the participants ranged from 16 to 70 years. During the study period from 2005 to 2018, the study participants provided information on their sleeping habits several times in a questionnaire.
Subjects were asked to estimate when they usually went to bed and when they woke up on workdays or during school hours at different age ranges. They also reported when they usually went to bed and when they woke up on weekends or days off. The typical length of sleep on workdays or school days (15-19 years) has been divided into three categories:
- less than seven hours a night (short sleep)
- seven to nine hours a night (normal sleep)
- ten or more hours a night (long sleep)
In addition, the subjects were asked to assess their sleep quality in different phases of life. A five-point scale from “very bad” to “very good” was used for this purpose.
Also interesting: How do you survive times with little sleep without damage to your health?
Evaluation of the data on the risk of multiple sclerosis
Analysis of data collected over years revealed a striking association: the risk of developing multiple sclerosis was 40 percent higher for people who reported getting less than seven hours of sleep a night between the ages of 15 and 19 to have. The comparison group was made up of subjects who slept an average of seven to nine hours when they were young.
Those study participants who reported having a bad sleepf even had a 50 percent increased risk of MS. “Lack of sleep and poor sleep quality during adolescence appear to increase the risk of developing MS later in life. Sufficiently long, restful sleep, which is needed for adequate immune function, can thus be a preventive factor against MS,” concludes the Swedish study leader Dr. Torbjörn Åkerstedt, like the health portal “Healthlinereported.
At least nine hours of sleep protects against MS risk
Because, as the researchers also found out, subjects who slept nine or more hours during their youth did not have an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis later. You also have other risk factors such as smoking, obesity, a Epstein-Barr virus infection such as Vitamin D Deficiency included in the results.
Bad and short sleep is not only a risk factor for MS in adolescence. The study also points out that other studies have already shown that shift workers are more likely to develop multiple sclerosis due to their permanently disturbed sleep rhythm.
While it’s still unclear exactly what causes MS, this study found that at least getting good, adequate sleep during adolescence can reduce the risk of multiple sclerosis.