If you sleep poorly, you are more likely to suffer Alzheimer's

In many cases we underestimate the harmful effects of not sleeping properly as one would like. According to the Spanish Sleep Society (SEN), only 30% of the population admits to rest between seven and nine hours each night, the interval recommended by health specialists. If you do not have a restful sleep, you are more prone to suffer from mental disorders such as anxiety or depression, but recent research has produced more worrying results from this lack of night rest.

The study, published in the 'Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry', analyzed data from 51 studies of middle-aged people in North America, Europe and East Asia to see if there was a link between sleep problems and mental disorders. Thus, scientists found that there is a relationship between insomnia and the risk of developing Alzheimer's in the final stages of life, according to the newspaper 'Health'.

Certain sleep problems such as insomnia can cause inflammation in the brain that can lead to Alzheimer's cases

Specifically, those who have serious difficulty sleeping at night or stay too long awake had a chance of 27% more from getting dementia or diseases such as Alzheimer's. People who simply lacked sleep, 24%, and those with sleep apnea, a potentially serious disorder in which breathing stops, they take the worst part: up to 29% chance of suffering a severe memory loss.

Although it may sound very shocking and surprising, the relationship between suffering from this degenerative brain disease and having difficulty falling asleep is not a new idea. "We suspect this was the case for a long period of time," says the Christopher Winter, Author of the famous book 'The Sleep Solution: Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It'. "Various studies have been approaching this idea."

To learn more about this relationship, one would have to make an assessment of the nature of Alzheimer's. "Dementia is a term used to describe loss of cognitive functioning, such as thinking, remembering and reasoning, as well as behavioral skills to the point of interfering with a person's private and public life, "according to the National Institute on American Aging. Therefore, there are various forms of dementia, the main it is Alzheimer's, but there is also dementia with Lewy bodies (which causes a progressive decrease in mental abilities or symptoms similar to Parkinson), or frontotemporal disorders (which affects personality, behavior and language).

"People with dementia can develop memory problems, in language, visual perception, problem solving, self-control or the ability to concentrate ", remember from 'Health'. Very common as we age, but this does not imply that it is a feature that defines this period.

Insomnia and Alzheimer's: the reasons

What is the main reason that sleep disorders also interfere with those of the brain? Wei Xu, Professor of Neurology at Qingdao University of China, has several theories. The first is that certain sleep problems such as insomnia can cause inflammation in the brain that can lead to dementia. Another cause is that they could reduce metabolic efficiency in the brain, such as the ability of the mind to transfer waste through its glyphic system, which could result in the loss of neuronal cells.

"Sleep problems can also lead to atrophy or contraction of important areas in the brain, such as the hippocampus, which regulates motivation, emotions, learning and memory ", Xu explains to the American media. In short, sleeping well is much more important than you think, and if you do not get your deserved daily rest it is better that you put yourself in the hands of a doctor or professional, since the diseases that long lack of sleep can cause Deadline can be very serious.