Poor sleep quality and Alzheimer's disease

This article discussed research about Alzheimer's disease and sleep. Researchers looked at a marker for Alzheimer's, called beta-Amyloid. The results showed that those with lower sleep quality and shorter sleep duration had higher levels of beta-Amyloid. However, sleep duration and quality was determined by subject self-report. It will be helpful to see if the relationship holds up with objective sleep measurements.

Sleep apnea and alzheimer's

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and Alzheimer's dementia get more common as we age. This article discusses research that shows that markers of Alzheimers increase as the severity of OSA increases. And this was more true for lean patients than for obese ones. In other words, the more severe your OSA, the more likely you are to have these markers for Alzheimer's. The authors of the study speculate that obesity may somehow be protective of alheimer's, and that's why they were less likely to have the markers even if the have OSA. Maybe. But perhaps the lean people had OSA much longer, and had more time to damage the brain, resulting in changes seen in Alzheimers.

Some sleep aids may boost memory by changing sleep

When I perform sleep studies on my patients, one way I have of knowing that a patient is in a certain stage of sleep is by one of their brain wave patterns. One such pattern that is commonly associated with light, non-dream sleep is sleep spindles. Sleep researchers have discovered that certain disorders that can affect memory, like Alzheimer's and schizophrenia, have a reduce amount of sleep spindles. And certain medications can increase the number of spindles. So researchers did a test to see if taking one of these medicine to increase the spindle frequency improved memory. One of the medications was Ambien. The results showed an increase in spindles and an improvement in verbal memory. And the improvement was better than plain sleep. This is exciting, as it may allow us to improve memory in certain people.

Sleep disruption may signal future Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's patients sleep poorly at night and often nap multiple times in the daytime. They can get their days and nights so mixed up, they end up sleeping only in the daytime and are up all night wandering. Sleep problems are a common reason for putting people with Alzheimer's Disease in nursing homes. Here is a study showing that broken up sleep and daytime napping were more likely in people with pre-clinical Alzheimer's Disease - meaning before there is any memory loss. Researchers determined their sleep quality with home based sleep testing and sleep diaries. They determined pre-clinical Alzheimer's Disease with results from a spinal tap. These findings are interesting as a disruption in sleep quality may mean that the person is at risk for developing a cognitive disorder.

Sleep problems in young adulthood and Alzheimer's Disease

This article discusses research in mice showing a potential link between sleep problems in young adulthood and development of Alzheimer's Disease later in life.

Sleep problems may signal onset of Alzheimer's Dementia

This article discusses research showing that sleep difficulties may be an early sign of Alzheimer's dementia.