Just one sleepless night can increase levels of a protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease in the blood of young men. This indicates that having good sleep habits at an early age may help protect against this devastating disease.
People with Alzheimer’s have clumps of two sticky proteins in their brains: beta-amyloid and tau. Early studies have found that one night of sleep deprivation raises beta-amyloid in human brains, but less is know about tau.
Jonathan Cedernaes, M.D., PhD, at Uppsala University in Sweden and his colleagues recruited 15 healthy young men. They measured tau levels in the men’s blood after a full night’s sleep and after a night of no sleep at all. After the sleepless night, tau levels in the blood rose by 17 percent and only rose 2 percent after a good night’s sleep.
While this was a small study that looked only at men, the finding adds to growing evidence that people with poor sleep or insomnia are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s decades later.
A good and deep sleep can most of the time be accomplished by exercising, meditating, avoiding caffeine, nicotine, and big meals at night. Also, taking B-Complex, magnesium during the day and melatonin during the night, has helped many people with a good night sleep.
Renzo J. Bustamante-Wendorff, B.S., M.S.
Research & Development
References: New Scientist, January 18-24, 2020.
