Getting more restorative, deep sleep could ward off Alzheimer’s disease in your later years.
Alzheimer’s affects more than 40 million people worldwide with no cure in sight. But new research from the University of California Berkeley suggests one defense against this virulent form of dementia is plenty of deep, restorative sleep.
Researchers were able to match the overnight sleep quality of 32 healthy older adults against the buildup in their brains of the toxic plaque known as beta-amyloid — thought to mark the beginning of Alzheimer's, which destroys memory pathways and other brain functions.
Study participants who experienced restless sleep and less nonrapid eye movement (non-REM) slow-wave or deep sleep were most likely to show an increase in beta-amyloid.
Even though genetic testing can predict one's inherent susceptibility to Alzheimer's, and blood tests offer a diagnostic tool, the study showed that neither offers the potential for a lifestyle therapeutic intervention that sleep does.
Source: Science Daily September 3, 2020