Sleep as a ‘secret weapon’ against Alzheimer’s. According to a new study, conducted by a team from Berkeley, Stanford and Irvine universities, those who enjoy constant, high-quality rest have the ability to improve their cognitive abilities, despite having the same level of amyloid proteins associated with Alzheimer’s. The discovery could therefore offer hope in the fight against a disease that affects millions of people around the world.
In fact, Alzheimer’s still remains one of the most devastating forms of dementia today. Now, however, according to American researchers, a simple Daily behavior can offer a natural shield against cognitive decline: deep, restful sleep. The benefits, the researchers noted, come specifically from deep, slow-wave non-REM sleep, not from lighter sleep stages. The deepest phase of night rest in fact helps to preserve memory, even if the brain has already started to show signs of the disease.
The research
For their research, published in BMC Medicine, the scientists studied a sample of 62 cognitively healthy older adults. Some showed early brain signs of Alzheimer’s, but those who enjoyed deep, intense, high-quality sleep performed significantly better on memory tests. The neuroscientist from the University of Berkeley Matthew Walker described the effect in detail: “You have to think about the deep sleep like a life preserver that keeps the memory afloatpreventing her from being dragged down by the burden of Alzheimer’s pathology.”
Deep sleep can therefore be a truly powerful weapon in protecting mental clarity, even when biological changes have already begun. What makes this finding particularly encouraging is that, unlike genetics or age, sleep is something we can improve.
Sleep fights Alzheimer’s, but how?
In fact, scientists already knew that lack of sleep contributed to increased levels of beta-amyloid, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s. These proteins can begin to accumulate decades before symptoms appear.
Deep sleep, therefore, is like a overnight detox for the brainwhich helps eliminate metabolic waste and harmful proteins that accumulate throughout the day. This ‘cleaning’ process could allow good sleepers to resist memory loss, even in the presence of biological signs of Alzheimer’s.
How to improve your sleep
Researchers have also reported some natural methodsadvising against sleeping pills due to unwanted side effects, to improve the quality of sleep. In particular the advice is: quattro: avoid caffeine during the day; do regular exercise; reduce the time spent in front of a screen, be it television, computer or telephone, before going to sleep; and take a hot shower before going to bed. These simple actions can improve the quality of sleep and ‘raise’ the shield against Alzheimer’s.
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