Sleep habits likely play role in cognitive, neurological conditions

Key takeaways:

• Adopting a healthier lifestyle that includes sleep regulation is likely to boost sleep quality.
• Lack of sleep quality and sleep disturbances may interrupt natural processes that promote worsening health.

PHILADELPHIA — Better sleep boosts quality of life and may have positive long-reaching benefits including reduction of risk for neurological disorders, according to research presented at the American Neurological Association annual meeting.

“Normal, healthy sleep is under assault by our 21st-century environment —from artificial light to massive anxiety to social media – and sleep deprivation can exacerbate an existing neurological condition,” ANA President Frances E. Jensen, MD, FANA, FACP, said in a related release. “It’s important to focus on how we can improve sleep at any age because it doesn’t just keep you healthy, it can be a great armor to prevent disease.”

Leading neurologists recommend taking steps to ward off health issues by taking steps such as maintaining a regular sleep schedule, getting regular exercise at a decent hour, switching off all sources of illumination as well as electronics, utilizing ear plugs and eye masks, cutting down on alcohol consumption and eliminating caffeine from mid-afternoon forward.

However, these daily diligent steps to provide the best possible foundation only tell a fraction of the story, the ANA said in the release.

The glymphatic system cleans the brain of waste products that increase the risk of neurological disorders, works during sleep and works best when optimal sleep is achieved.

Calling sleep “serious business,” Maiken Nedergaard, MD, DMSc, co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, noted good sleep habits can slow or arrest neurological diseases which can accelerate with worsening sleep quality. The glymphatic system flushes cerebrospinal fluid into the brain during sleep to remove protein waste products such as tau proteins and amyloid beta, found to be biomarkers of chronic traumatic encephalopathy discovered in those who played football for sustained periods of time. Sleep disturbances are one of many symptoms found in those diagnosed with CTE.

For those who don’t revel in long naps or deep sleeps, preliminary research found certain genetic variants may protect those who are able to have restful sleep in 4- to 6-hour bursts against conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, per the release.

Ying-Hui Fu, PhD, a neurology professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Weill Institute for Neuroscience, and fellow researchers identified four genes (DEC2, ADRB1, NPSR1 and GRM1) that trigger the ability for individuals to sleep less but have protective effects against neurodegeneration typical of AD.

Conversely, research suggests those who sleep less but sleep poorly may have increased risk for and accelerated accumulation of Alzheimer’s-type alterations in the brain, such as amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles. Changes to microglia are a likely trigger, according to David Holtzman, MD, FANA, director of the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center at Washington University School of Medicine, and as such, are a likely target for novel therapies which address AD and its related cognitive effects.

As research on the subject evolves, researchers like Holtzman suspect underlying pathology has negative consequences for regions of the brain responsible for sleep regulation. Individuals in late middle age who find a “middle range of sleep” seem to be less susceptible to cognitive decline than those who gain either low or high amounts of sleep.