Frequent nightmares may be linked to early death, as adults who experience them weekly were found to have shorter telomeres—markers of accelerated aging.
United States: Nightmares might not just disturb your sleep; they may even be associated with an increased risk of premature death because a study published last week found a correlation between the prevalence of nightmares and shortened telomeres.
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A study at Imperial College London followed more than 183,000 adults and 2,400 children up to 19 years old and inquired how frequently they were having bad dreams, according to the Times of London.
Individuals who experienced nightmares during adulthood on a weekly basis were three times more likely to die before they reached age 70 than other individuals who experienced fewer nightmares, reported results at the European Academy of Neurology Congress in Helsinki on Monday, newser.com reported.
Having weekly nightmares has been linked to a faster rate of biological ageing and even a higher risk of early death. https://t.co/VfQnIrR4B6
— New Scientist (@newscientist) June 24, 2025
People who experienced nightmares weekly showed that they possessed shorter telomeres-features of a structure at the end of chromosomes connected to the process of aging.
Cellular aging is linked to shorter telomeres. The head author of the study, Abidemi Otaiku, said that in children, too, frequent nightmares were associated with shorter lengths of telomeres.
He alluded that due to the similarity in the stress response to nightmares to the fight-or-flight response in daytime, there is an increased aging.
The disrupted sleep and the release of stress hormones such as cortisol might also be the case, but nightmares might also be a symptom of other medical conditions or an impact of medication, according to the New Scientist, newser.com reported.