Treat yourself to a few extra hours in bed on the weekend and it could do much more than just revitalize your body.
Research has found that it could also reduce the risk of dementia by more than 70 percent.
Scientists found that men and women over 65 who enjoyed lying in bed on a Saturday or Sunday morning were much less likely to later develop this incurable condition.
Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia affect around 900,000 people in the UK and the number is expected to rise to 1.5 million by 2040, due to an aging population.
Doctors recommend regular physical exercise, a healthy diet and limited alcohol intake to protect against the disease.
Staying in bed on the weekend could help reduce the risk of dementia by more than 70 percent, according to a new study (file photo)
An active social life, regular hearing tests, and stimulating mental tasks such as riddles and crossword puzzles are also thought to help.
But the latest study, published in the journal Sleep and Breathing, shows that hitting the snooze button on the weekend could also help.
Researchers at National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, tracked 215 men and women aged 65 and older for two years.
The volunteers kept sleep diaries and used accelerometers (wristwatch-like devices that monitor when the body is moving or stationary) to record sleep times.
The researchers then looked at what proportion developed cognitive dysfunction, an early warning sign of dementia.
The results showed that about half of the volunteers enjoyed a weekend break to catch up on the sleep they had lost during the week.
As a result, they were 74 percent less likely to experience declines in cognitive function than those who were not bedridden.
Sleeping on weekends has previously been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks, prevent obesity, keep depression at bay, and even help people live longer.
Men and women over 65 years of age who rest in bed on Saturday or Sunday are less likely to develop this incurable disease.
Scientists said it’s not clear exactly how sleeping longer protects the brain against dementia.
But one theory is that this means the brain has more time to rest and recover, strengthening the connections between neurons.
It may also be that getting enough sleep reduces inflammation in the body, which can contribute to the development of dementia.
In a report on their findings, the scientists said: “This is the first study to examine the effects of catch-up sleep on cognitive decline in older adults.”
“The results indicate that sleeping on weekends is associated with a lower risk of cognitive dysfunction.”