You know that most people living with Alzheimer’s have trouble sleeping well. You also know that they exhibit memory loss and confusion. What you may not know is that lack of sleep may worsen Alzheimer’s and its associated memory loss!
The new findings center on a protein called tau, which accumulates in abnormal tangles in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. In a healthy brain, active neurons naturally release some tau during waking hours, but it normally gets cleared away during sleep.
The latest findings in studies of mice and people suggests that sleep deprivation upsets this balance, allowing more tau to be released, accumulated, and spread in toxic tangles within brain areas important for memory. While more study is needed, the findings suggest that regular, good sleep may play an unexpectedly important role in helping to delay or slow down Alzheimer’s.
For more information, please visit: https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/sleep-loss-encourages-spread-toxic-alzheimers-protein
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