They discover that sleeping badly can be the cause of Alzheimer's

It has long been known that lack of sleep and Alzheimer's disease are related. People who suffer from this condition tend to wake up tired and sleep worse and worse as the disease progresses.

From this knowledge, a group of researchers from the University of California-Berkeley (USA) decided to go further and investigate whether lack of sleep could increase the chances of suffering from the disease.

The results warn that starting to take rest seriously is no joke.

Alzheimer's and beta-amyloid protein

Alzheimer's is a progressive brain atrophy that occurs due to the accumulation of tau and beta-amyloid proteins in the brain. In the long run, this deterioration produces the typical symptoms of the disease: confusion, loss of memory, etc.

However, until two decades before the symptoms appear, beta-amyloid protein begins to accumulate in plaques in the brain. Later tau entanglements appear, followed by atrophy in key areas of the brain.

This means that the disease begins in the brain very much before there is any visible symptom. And according to this study, sleeping little and poorly is one of the warning signs that must be taken into account if an early diagnosis is to be made.

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Alzheimer's and lack of sleep

The beta-amyloid protein that, accumulated, causes Alzheimer's disease, is a waste of normal brain activity. That is, we all generate that protein. The study of these neuroscientists came to show that, if you sleep poorly, these proteins are not completely discarded.

To reach this conclusion, they took samples of cerebrospinal fluid from a group of volunteers for 36 hours. Some of them had had a good night's sleep, and others had been prevented from sleeping properly.

The result showed that people who had slept very little or nothing at all had a higher concentration of beta-amyloid protein during the next day. According to studies, the protein is discarded during sleep and, if you do not sleep well, it remains.

The importance of rest

It is worth mentioning that this does not mean that a few nights of bad sleep will cause Alzheimer's, and it is not the only cause.

But research does suggest that sleeping badly for years can cause brain injuries, even leading to serious diseases, such as Alzheimer's.

Rest is an important part of health and life, which should not be delayed. If you have sleep problems, it is a good idea to consult with specialists to be able to solve it, since it can generate problems in the future.

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Sources:

ABC

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