
As an erratic sleeper, I worry when I see a headline such as this recent one from Science News: “Poor sleep may account for a large share of dementia cases.”
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As an erratic sleeper, I worry when I see a headline such as this recent one from Science News: “Poor sleep may account for a large share of dementia cases.”
But then other studies suggest differently. For example, one large analysis from the Sleep and Dementia Consortium, in which 4,600 older adults in the US were followed for up to 19 years each, found that the amount of time spent in different sleep stages – light, heavy, REM and NREM – did not neatly predict who went on to develop dementia.
We need good sleep. That is when the brain goes about housekeeping, clearing it of the toxic proteins that are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.