Why frequent nightmares could lead to an early death

If you often have nightmares, then you may want to find a way to manage them. A new study has revealed that frequent nightmares are linked to premature ageing and increase the risk of early death. This risk increases by triple, which sounds like a nightmare of its own. So, what’s going on? (Picture: Getty)

What did the researchers do?

Dr Abidemi Otaiku, lead researcher from Imperial College London, and his team analysed more than 183,000 adults aged between 26 to 38. These adults had taken part in several studies, and at the start had been asked to self-report how often they had nightmares. They then were tracked for a duration between 1.5 years to as long as 19 years (Picture: Getty)

The researchers also looked at the participants' biological age by looking at their telomeres, which are small DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that shorten each time a cell divides – shorter ones are linked to premature ageing. The researchers also included data from 2400 children, aged between 8 and 10, whose nightmare frequency was reported by their parents (Picture: Getty)

What did the researchers find?

They found that people who reported having nightmares on a weekly basis were more than three times as likely to die before they turned 70 than those who said they never or rarely had nightmares. Dr Otaiku revealed there was a clear association, and said: ‘People who have more frequent nightmares age faster and die earlier’ (Picture: Getty)

The researchers also discovered there was a consistent association between frequent nightmares and accelerated ageing across all ages, sexes and ethnicities. Even in childhood, frequent nightmares led to short telomeres, which suggests faster biological ageing. In adults, faster biological ageing accounted for about 40% of their heightened mortality risk. Essentially, the researchers found that nightmare frequency tended to be a stronger predictor of premature death than smoking, obesity, poor diet or lack of physical activity (Picture: Getty)

Why does this link occur?

There are two main reasons the researchers suggest this link could happen. First, stress. Nightmares can cause prolonged levels of cortisol– the stress hormone. Cortisol has been linked to faster cellular ageing, and the NHS reveals that high stress on the body can cause physical symptoms such as headaches, muscle pain, stomach problems, skin rashes, dizziness, and fatigue(Picture: Getty)

But, not only are you stressed, but now you’re also getting disrupted sleep. This can harm the body’s overnight cellular repair processes. Sleep disruption has been linked to increases in the risk of various medical conditions, including heart disease as well as some cancers and stroke. Dr Otaiku will present the results at the European Academy of Neurology Congress 2025 in Helsinki, Finland, on 23 June (Picture: Getty)