Overview

• Researchers analyzed up to 19 years of data on 183,012 adults and 2,429 children to assess nightmare frequency and health outcomes.
• Adults reporting weekly nightmares faced more than three times the risk of death before age 70, outpacing risks from smoking, obesity, poor diet and inactivity.
• Accelerated biological aging, measured through telomere shortening and epigenetic clocks, accounted for about 40% of the heightened mortality risk in adults.
• Ongoing elevations in cortisol and disrupted sleep from nightmares are believed to impair overnight cellular repair and drive stress-related aging.
• Simple measures— including better sleep hygiene, stress management and treatment for anxiety or depression—could reduce nightmares, though experts call for further causal research.