Lack of Sleep Compromises the Brain

A defining characteristic of Alzheimer’s Disease is an accumulation in the brain of the amyloid-beta protein. Jurgen Claassen, from Radboud University Medical Center (The Netherlands), and colleagues enrolled 26 middle-aged men with normal sleep habits to have their protein levels measured before and after sleep, or a lack of it.  In a monitored clinic setting, half of the men were randomly assigned to sleep the night, while the other half were kept awake.  The researchers found that the men who got a good night’s sleep had amyloid-beta levels in their spinal fluid about 6%  lower in the morning, as compared to when they had gone to bed. The men who were kept awake all night had no change in their amyloid-beta levels.  The quality of sleep men got was also linked to how much of a decrease in amyloid-beta was measured.  The study authors submit that: “Sleep deprivation, or prolonged wakefulness, interferes with a physiological morning decrease in [amyloid-beta protein]. We hypothesize that chronic sleep deprivation increases cerebral [amyloid-beta protein] levels, which elevates the risk of Alzheimer disease”