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We need to sleep to restore our energy after a tiresome day. Some chose to sleep in the evening and wake up early in the morning, and some chose to sleep in the morning instead of in the evening because of their nightlife activities. The pattern of a person's sleeping habit changes their circadian rhythm. But don't you know that sleeping longer among the Hispanics and Latinos is associated with cognitive decline?

In a published article in Neurology Today, researchers found the association between memory issues of Hispanics and Latinos and the duration of their sleep. The study was one of the largest and most comprehensive research projects regarding cognitive decline among minority groups.

A study reported in October about Alzheimer's and Dementia found out that Hispanics and Latinos are at risk in terms of cognitive, phonemic fluency, and mental status because of their sleep patterns or habits. 

Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the lead author of the study Dr. Rafael Ramos said that "Our findings identified important sleep correlates of neurocognitive decline that can precede the onset of dementia, providing a target for early intervention to prevent or ameliorate the onset of disease, more so in Latinos, a high-risk group." 

Dr. Ramos also said that long sleep can result in poor sleep quality. It was also mentioned in a previously published article of Latin Post, that sleeping is good for the body because everyone needs it, however, a problem will only arise if a person changes his or her sleep pattern like the number of hours because it changes and affects the circadian rhythm of a person.

People assumed that the length of hours you spend sleeping is better because it relaxes your brain and body. However, the researchers found out that sleeping in a long period harms the cognitive domain of a person.

According to Dr. Ramos that the strength of the study they conducted relied on its methodology. They considered factors such as the different aspects of the sleep cycle and assessed demographic, behavioral, vascular factors, insomnia and more. In the research, it was found out that Latinos and Hispanics are 1.5 higher to be at risk with Alzheimer's compared to the non-Hispanic whites and they are also figuring out the reasons behind this.

 Dr. Ramos has spent most of his time studying the health problems in the Latinx community and that includes cardiovascular disease and sleep problems. The Hispanic Community Health Study or also known as the Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) followed 16,145 Latinx across four large cities where the number of Latinx is significant. These cities are Chicago, Miami, New York, and San Diego.

The study also found out that those who sleep more than nine hours and less than six hours have neurocognitive problems compared to those who sleep around seven to eight hours. These findings led the Study of Latinos-Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging (SOL-INCA) to see if sleep patterns are associated with the neurocognitive decline among middle-aged and older Latinos.

Dr. Ramos said based on the findings of the study that "We observed that worse sleep in the form of prolonged periods of sleep (greater than nine hours) and insomnia symptoms led to neurocognitive decline in memory, executive function, and processing speed and these measures can precede the development of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's."