Researchers at the University of Bristol have unveiled in their recent findings in the journal Brain an association between sleep quality and Alzheimer’s disease-like pathology.
The research involved what was regarded as the largest cohort thus far known as the European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia Longitudinal Cohort Study. More than 1,100 adults over 50 years of age participated in the study.
“This study included 1168 adults aged over 50 years with CSF core Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers (total tau, phosphorylated tau and amyloid-beta), cognitive performance, and sleep quality (Pittsburgh sleep quality index questionnaire) data,” according to the study’s authors.
“We used multivariate linear regressions to analyse associations between core Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers and the following Pittsburgh sleep quality index measures: total score of sleep quality, binarized score (poor sleep categorized as Pittsburgh sleep quality index > 5), sleep latency, duration, efficiency and disturbance.”
“This study demonstrates that self-reported poor sleep quality is associated with greater Alzheimer’s disease-related pathology in cognitively unimpaired individuals, with longitudinal results further strengthening the hypothesis that disrupted sleep may represent a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease,” the authors determined.
