In a latest study published in JAMA Neurology, a group of researchers reported how sleep, specifically daytime sleepiness, may be an early indicator of Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's severely affects memory, orientation in time and space, and has no cure. It is also the most common form of dementia.
Alzheimer's
Prashanthi Vemuri, associate professor of radiology at the Mayo Clinic, and his colleagues wanted to address the question of why people with Alzheimer's disease tend to interrupt sleep.
Something that makes sense, because biological studies recently revealed that, while the brain sleeps, it eliminates amyloid deposits, the protein that accumulates and finally strangles nerve cells in Alzheimer's disease.
But it was not clear whether deposits of the amyloid plaque led to sleep disruption, or if changes in sleep habits contributed to the accumulation of the protein.
After performing several brain scans to detect amyloid during the seven-year study period in elderly people with Alzheimer's, they found that people who reported excessive daytime sleepiness at the beginning of the study were more likely to show increases in amyloid content in their brains. .
While the study did its best to try to track how amyloid levels in the brain change over time in people with and without daytime sleepiness, it still does not provide a definitive answer as to whether sleep disruptions contribute to amyloid accumulation or if sleep problems arise, it causes amyloid to begin to accumulate.
All in all, the findings reinforce the importance of good sleep and good sleep habits to keep the brain healthy. Especially if it is found that sleep is a way to delay or even prevent Alzheimer's.