Reduced REM Sleep is Associated with Mortality in Middle Aged and Older Adults

We investigated whether REM sleep is associated with greater risk of mortality in 2 independent cohorts and explored whether another sleep stage could be driving the findings.

This cross-sectional study from 2 independent cohorts found lower amounts of REM sleep were associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality. There was a 13% higher mortality rate over 12.1 years for every 5% reduction in REM sleep in a cohort of 2675 older men, and the finding was replicated in a cohort of 1375 middle-aged men and women followed-up for 20.8 years.

Article: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2767713

Leary EB, Watson KT, Ancoli-Israel S, Redline S, Yaffe K, Ravelo LA, Peppard PE, Zou J, Goodman S, Mignot E, Stone KL for the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study Research Group. Reduced REM Sleep is Associated with Mortality in Middle Aged and Older Adults. JAMA Neurol. Published online July 6, 2020. DOI:10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.2108. PMID: 32628261.