Feeling sleepy during the day can trigger Alzheimer's disease: Study

Lack of sleep can be bad for your memory. (Source: photo file)

In a significant finding, Johns Hopkins researchers found that people who feel sleepy during the day are three times more likely to develop Alzheimer's than those who sleep well. An analysis of data captured in a long-term study of aging adults found that those who reported being very sleepy during the day were nearly three times more likely than those who did not have brain deposition. amyloid. characteristic of Alzheimer's disease – years later.

The discovery, reported in the journal SLEEP, adds to a growing body of evidence that poor sleep could encourage this form of dementia to develop, suggesting that adequate nighttime sleep could be a way to prevent disease from developing. # 39; Alzheimer's.

"Factors such as diet, exercise, and cognitive activity have been widely recognized as important potential targets for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease, but sleep does not occur. has not really reached this level, even though it may well change, "said Adam P. Spira. at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Spira led the study with collaborators from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the Bloomberg School and Johns Hopkins Medicine.

"If disturbed sleep contributes to Alzheimer's disease, we may be able to treat patients with sleep problems to avoid these negative consequences," added Spira.

The study used data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging (BLSA) – a long-term study launched by the NIA in 1958 that tracked the health of thousands of volunteers as They were aging.

Before adjusting for the demographic factors that may affect daytime sleepiness, the results showed that people who reported daytime sleepiness were about three times more likely to have beta-amyloid deposits than those who did not. reported daytime fatigue.

After adjusting for these factors, the risk was still 2.75 times higher in subjects with daytime sleepiness.

The unadjusted risk of beta-amyloid deposition was about twice as high in volunteers who reported a nap, but this did not reach statistical significance.

It is currently unclear why somnolence during the day is correlated with the deposition of beta-amyloid protein.

One possibility is that somnolence during the day itself could somehow cause the formation of this protein in the brain.

Based on previous research, a more likely explanation is that disturbed or insufficient sleep due to other factors results in the formation of beta-amyloid plaques by a mechanism currently unknown and that these sleep disorders also cause daytime sleepiness. excessive.

"However, we can not rule out that amyloid plaques that were present at the time of sleep assessment caused drowsiness," the researchers added.

For all the latest Lifestyle news, download the Indian Express app