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Older adults who are frail and have depression could be at a higher risk of dementia, with the factors combined contributing to 17 per cent of the overall risk, according to a study. The findings, published in the journal General Psychiatry, suggests that while frailty and depression each increase dementia risk on their own, having both the conditions could make one more than three times as likely to develop dementia, compared with those in good health. According to researchers from Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China, frailty and depression should be routinely assessed in older people, as improving their physical and mental health could help reduce dementia risk. The previously published research has primarily focused on the individual associations between physical frailty or depression and dementia risk, they added. Data from more than two lakh people from the US and UK, including the UK Biobank dataset, were analysed. During a 13-year follow-up, 9,088 participants wer
Excessive screen time can affect one's sleep, thereby increasing risk of depressive symptoms -- especially among teenage girls, according to a new study. Studies have consistently linked use of screens and devices with a poorer quality of sleep and a higher chance of mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression. However, researchers from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet said that sleep problems and depression can often coincide, and the direction of these links has been unclear. For the study, findings of which are published in the journal 'PLOS Global Public Health', the team tracked 4,810 Swedish students aged 12-16, collecting data on sleep quality and quantity, depressive symptoms, and screen usage over the course of a year. An increased screen time led to deteriorated sleep within three months, impacting both the duration and quality of sleep, the study found. Screen time was also found to postpone sleep times towards later hours -- disrupting multiple aspects of th