Alzheimer’s ‘may be linked to lack of sleep’

The findings follow earlier research indicating that one of the functions of sleep is to purge the brain of toxic proteins.

One such harmful protein is beta-amyloid (Abeta), which accumulates in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.

The new study appears to reinforce the importance of sleep in staving off dementia.

US scientists who looked at data on 70 adults with an average age of 76 found that those who slept less, and who experienced low quality sleep, had higher levels of beta-amyloid.

Self-reported sleep duration in the participants ranged from five to seven hours a night.

The authors, led by Dr Adam Spira, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, wrote: “In summary, our findings in a sample of community-dwelling older adults indicate that reports of shorter sleep duration and poorer sleep quality are associated with a greater Abeta burden.

“As evidence of this association accumulates, intervention trials will be needed to determine whether optimising sleep can prevent or slow AD (Alzheimer’s disease) progression.”

The researchers pointed out that the study did not indicate whether sleep disturbance preceded beta-amyloid build-up.