The medical site Medical Express has reported that individuals who lack deep sleep have a higher risk of dementia. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan.20 (Korea Bizwire) – The medical site Medical Express has reported that individuals who lack deep sleep have a higher risk of dementia.
It has been a known fact in brain science that sleep deficiency is related to human memory.
In addition, considering that sleep disorders are common among patients with Alzheimer’s, it is thought that dementia is also related to sleep disorders.
For a long time, scientists have simply thought that Alzheimer’s was caused by problems occurring in the part of the brain that controls sleep.
However, since 2009, researchers at Washington State University and California State University discovered that sleep disorders could be a contributing factor to Alzheimer’s.
The researchers found out that sticky amyloid proteins which cause Alzheimer’s were created faster among rats that were deprived of sleep.
In 2013, a research team at Oregon Health and Science University revealed that a lack of sleep accelerated the formation of substances causing Alzheimer’s through animal experiments.
While sleeping, the brain ‘cleans’ toxic substances such as amyloid which cause Alzheimer’s. However, when sleep is deprived, the toxins are accumulated in the brain and cause damage.
Sleep, in other words, is like taking out the garbage in the brain. The research team at OHSU emphasized that it was proven that not just ‘sleep’ but ‘deep sleep’ was important to clear out the dangerous toxins.
Since previous research was conducted on rats, the OHSU research team is starting to conduct research on humans to see if similar actions occur in the human body.
The team suggested that if similar results are observed in human trials, the theory that a lack of deep sleep could trigger health risks such as Alzheimer’s could be strengthened, and new ways to treat the disease could be found.
By M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
