Lack of sleep is a major contributing factor to the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease, a brand new study suggests. The findings, which were published in the JAMA Neurology journal, indicate that the brains of those participating in this study that got less sleep and/or poor sleep may have more of a build-up of a certain kind of toxin that has long 
been associated with those suffering from Alzheimer’s.
“There is a link between sleep and the amount of [beta] amyloid in the brain,” said lead researcher Adam Spira, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Researchers have known for years that Alzheimer’s disease patients have an overabundance of the beta-amyloid toxin in their brains.
These toxins, experts contend, are chemically “sticky” and may gradually build up into clumps of plaque that block cell-to-cell signaling in the brain and activate immune system cells that trigger inflammation and deteriorate cells.
The new study indicates that the simple act of improving sleep could limit this plaque build up and help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. “We live in a sleep-deprived society,” Spira said. “It may be that changing sleep habits has significant implications for mental health and specifically the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Evidence suggests that as human beings sleep, toxins like beta-amyloid are essentially flushed from the brain during sleep. Greg Cole, a renowned neuroscientist currently working for the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System, said “since researchers know that more amyloid protein is produced by neurons in active circuits, the results could mean that quieting them down and getting a good night’s sleep might help to prevent Alzheimer’s.”
It appears that getting a poor night’s sleep could be far more detrimental than we once thought. But now that we know this, we can make creating better sleep habits a top priority.
On a side note, according to research, some sleep issues can be attributed to diet. A person’s lack of lycopene, a nutrient abundant in tomatoes, carrots and other red and orange foods; vitamin C, which most of us are already familiar with; and selenium, a mineral found in fish, seafood, turkey and barley.
Other research tells us that omega-3 fatty acids play a huge role in inducing in sleep.
It’s relatively easy to get these foods incorporated into your diet, so why not try? It could be exactly what you need to sleep longer and rest that brain of yours.