Do you suffer from frequent nightmares? According to a new study, you may be three times more likely to die a decade earlier than the average person.
It was found that weekly nightmares were an even stronger indicator of early death than smoking, obesity, poor diet and lack of physical activity.
Children and adults with frequent nightmares also showed faster biological aging, which accounted for about 40 percent of the explanation for the increased risk of early death.
Even monthly nightmares were linked to faster aging and increased mortality, compared to those who rarely or never experience them.
The researchers behind this research, from Imperial College London, said the link probably comes from the harmful effects of disturbed sleep and stress that nightmares cause on our body's cells.
Dr. Abidemi Otaiku, a researcher in brain sciences at Imperial College London, who led the team, said:
“This stress response can be even stronger than anything we experience while awake. Our brains during sleep cannot distinguish dreams from reality. That's why nightmares often wake us up sweating, breathing heavily, and with our hearts pounding — because the 'fight or flight' response has been activated.”
He added:
"Nightmares cause prolonged elevations of cortisol, a stress hormone that is closely linked to faster cellular aging.
They also impair the quality and duration of sleep, which prevents the body from regenerating itself and repairing cells during the night."
Dr. Otaiku also shared some "simple measures" that the public can take to prevent nightmares in the first place:
"Avoiding scary movies, maintaining good sleep hygiene, managing stress, and seeking treatment for anxiety or depression can be effective measures," he advised.
He also recommended a type of psychological therapy called image rehearsal therapy.
This involves rewriting and rehearsing a nightmare into a less frightening version and can even be done at home.
But for those who suffer from frequent nightmares that affect quality of life, it may be helpful to consult a sleep specialist, he added.
In particular, he suggested another form of talk therapy called CBT-I (cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia), which according to studies not only reduces nightmares but also slows the aging of brain cells.
This technique aims to help people with insomnia address the underlying thoughts and behaviors that contribute to sleep problems. Recent studies have shown that lack of sleep increases the risk of heart disease, obesity, and death by 83 percent, 82 percent, and 40 percent, respectively.
But researchers from Imperial College and the Institute of Dementia Research in London are the first to show that the frequency of nightmares is an indicator of early death.
The team analyzed data from 2,429 children aged 8 to 10 and 183,012 adults aged 26 to 86, over a 19-year period.
The frequency of nightmares in adults was self-reported at the start of the study, while participants were followed up for up to 19 years.
In children, the frequency of nightmares was reported by parents at the beginning of the study.
The team's findings were presented at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress on June 23, 2025.
They found that those who reported an average of one nightmare per week over a decade were three times more likely to die before the age of 70, compared to those who did not have nightmares.
Men in England live on average to 78.8 years and women to 82.8, according to the latest data.
These findings come after another recent study showed that daytime napping was also linked to a higher risk of early death.
The discovery was made by researchers who tracked the sleep habits of more than 86,000 healthy middle-aged adults.
They found that those who regularly napped during the day — especially in the afternoon — were more likely to die prematurely than those who didn't nap.
The study, presented at the SLEEP 2025 conference, found that the risk of death increased by up to 20 percent in those who took frequent daytime naps.
Experts said daytime sleepiness could be a warning sign of restless or poor-quality sleep at night, and could indicate other health problems such as sleep disorders, dementia or heart failure.
Professor James Rowley from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, who was not part of the study, said the findings should influence the way doctors ask patients about sleep.
"The main message is that if a doctor asks about a patient's sleep habits, they should also ask about naps," he told Medscape Medical News.
"In other words, doctors should ask patients: 'Do you nap during the day?'" /GazetaExpress/
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