Sleep disturbances linked to Alzheimer’s development by new study

A new study has highlighted a key process that links sleep disturbances to a potentially higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Carried out at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the study looked at the relationship between sleep quality and brain amyloid levels in a group of 98 cognitively healthy volunteers between the ages of 50 and 73.

Those who reported greater sleepiness showed greater amyloid accumulation in areas of the cerebral cortex that are heavily affected in Alzheimer's disease. Higher amyloid in these regions was also linked to less restful sleep and more sleep problems.

Though this is not enough to conclude that sleep disturbance causes amyloid accumulation, it nevertheless potentially reveals an early target for intervention to prevent the progression of mental degeneration in later life.

Dr Ruth Benca of the University of Wisconsin-Madison said: "We still need to determine whether sleep disturbance promotes amyloid deposition in the brain, or if a neurodegenerative process produces disordered sleep."

Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, affecting almost 500,000 people in the UK.