Don’t lose sleep over Alzheimer’s

Hyderabad: People having issues with deep sleep at middle age are more prone to Alzheimer’s disease, say researchers who carried out random studies in Portland. According to the researchers, changes in sleep habits can actually be setting the stage for Alzheimer’s.

The brain appears to clear out toxins linked to Alzheimer’s during sleep. But those who have sleep disorders at middle age tend to accumulate plaques associated with Alzheimer’s and deterioration of brain begins at this stage.

Dr Srinivas Kishore, sleep specialist with Star Hospitals said, “Apart from genetic causes for Alzheimer’s, sleep is also being looked at as a factor that disturbs the brain. But it must also be understood that the deep sleep experienced by middle-aged adults will be different from that of a child or teenager. The time of deep sleep reduces with age and that factor has to be kept in mind.”

Similarly, at the age of 70, there is no deep sleep at all and many senior citizens are wide awake by 3 in the morning.

According to researchers, deep sleep allows for removal of toxins from the brain and in younger people it was found to be very robust. However, the signals become weak at advanced ages. Dr K. Rao, another sleep surgeon said, “The co-relation between sleep and Alzheimer’s is one of the methods to understand the various causes for the advent of the disease. There is an association, but how many people are actually affected because of this is yet to be understood. Or is it just one of the causes? This requires to be kept in mind.”
 

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