Sleep, Memory Loss, and Dementia.
Sleep is exceptionally important for our overall health… Maybe most importantly, our brain’s health.
A recent paper in JAMA Neurology 2021, “Association of Short and Long Sleep Duration With Amyloid-β Burden and Cognition in Aging” looks at sleep duration in relation to memory loss and the development of amyloid plaques which are seen in Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers found that self-reported shorter sleep duration was associated with higher amyloid-β, higher body mass, depression, reduced cognition and memory.
Longer sleep also associated with problems but not with increased amyloid-β.
The researchers reported, “The association between sleep duration and multiple intersecting health outcomes, such as greater amyloid beta burden, greater depressive symptoms, higher BMI and cognitive decline, highlight the importance of maintaining adequate sleep in late life.”
It should be noted that this does not mean that sleep loss CAUSES Alzheimer’s dementia. Sleep problems may in fact indicate that there are underlying neurological problems that are related to developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease does not have a single cause. Current thinking is that it is multi-factorial and related to may things ranging from various chronic metabolic problems to chronic inflammatory problems and a history of brain trauma among potentially other issues.
Dementia like all other chronic health problems develops slowly over time taking many years to decades before the symptoms begin. This is why it’s absolutely critical to improve health and underlying problems before the symptoms develop.
The sooner, the better. Alzheimer’s disease is an absolutely devastating disease that is crippling and fatal for sufferers and absolutely terrible for families and friends.
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