A groundbreaking new study in mice and people, conducted by ANA President Dr. David Holtzman and his research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found that sleep deprivation increases levels of the key Alzheimer’s protein tau. And, in follow-up studies in the mice, the research team has shown that sleeplessness accelerates the spread through the brain of toxic clumps of tau—a harbinger of brain damage and decisive step along the path to dementia.
These findings, published online Jan. 24 in the journal Science, indicate that lack of sleep alone helps drive the disease, and suggests that good sleep may preserve brain health.