Is there something that we will do to maintain Alzheimer’s symptoms at bay? Scientists say good quality sleep may help.

Deep sleep can protect older adults against memory loss attributable to Alzheimer’s disease, in response to a team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley.

Deep sleep, also generally known as non-REM slow-wave sleep, can act as a buffer against cognitive decline by putting up resistance against the protein within the brain, called beta-amyloid, which is linked to memory loss.

How does beta-amyloid harm the brain?

The protein’s presence within the brain form clumps called amyloid plaques, which disrupt the communication between the brain nerve cells and contribute to the death of those cells. This eventually results in memory loss.

Previous studies have shown that faster accumulation of beta-amyloid protein within the brain is linked to poor sleep quality, Berkeley News reported. In the newest study, published within the journal BMC Medicine, researchers underscore that top amounts of deep, slow-wave sleep could act as a safeguard against memory decline in older adults with significant amounts of Alzheimer’s disease pathology.

Researchers hope the study will open latest avenues of more research into the topic.

“With a certain level of brain pathology, you are not destined for cognitive symptoms or memory issues,” Zsófia Zavecz, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley’s Center for Human Sleep Science, told Berkeley News. “People needs to be aware that, despite having a certain level of pathology, there are specific lifestyle aspects that can help moderate and reduce the results. One in every of those aspects is sleep and, specifically, deep sleep.”

People consider that education, exercise and socializing will help protect the brain from damage and keep the mind strong. But that won’t protect you from Alzheimer’s.

“If we consider that sleep is so critical for memory, could sleep be considered one of those missing pieces within the explanatory puzzle that might tell us exactly why two individuals with the identical amounts of vicious, severe amyloid pathology have very different memory?” said Matthew Walker, a UC Berkeley professor of neuroscience and psychology and senior writer of the study. “If the findings supported the hypothesis, it will be thrilling, because sleep is something we will change. It’s a modifiable factor.”

Researchers consider the outcomes will open up possibilities for long-term research on this field, which could have significant implications in the long run.

“One in every of some great benefits of this result’s the applying to an enormous population right above the age of 65,” Zavecz explained. “By sleeping higher and doing all your best to practice good sleep hygiene, which is simple to research online, you possibly can gain the advantage of this compensatory function against any such Alzheimer’s pathology.”

With so many aspects that may disrupt your sleep, it’s difficult to get a full eight hours of sleep every night.
GhostBed

Published by Medicaldaily.com