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Go to Sleep: It May Be the Best Way to Avoid Getting Alzheimer’s

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Poor sleep may be contributing to the buildup of the brain plaques that drive the Alzheimer's disease.

Doctors studying Alzheimer’s disease have known for a while now that their patients are poor sleepers. But does the disease result in disrupted sleep, or do unhealthy sleep habits contribute to the disease?

Reporting in Nature Neuroscience, researchers led by Matthew Walker at the University of California, Berkeley, describe for the first time a unique pattern of sleep brain waves that seems to be linked to a higher risk of building up the brain proteins that can lead to impaired memory.

There's a big difference in how much men and women sleep

Women, in general, get more shuteye than men.

That's what Jawbone, the maker of wearable bands that measure activity and track sleep, found when it crunched data from millions of people around the world who use Jawbone products.

Jawbone's data scientists looked at anonymous data from millions of Jawbone users and over 300 million nights of sleep and found that on average, women sleep about 20 minutes more than men each night.

Long Nights in a Sleep Lab

At 8:30 a.m., a bleary-eyed young woman wearing a bright orange bandanna and fuzzy, gray slippers is staring at a computer screen. When a number appears in a small box, she hits the space bar. She does it again and again, sometimes quickly and other times much more slowly.

“She’s very sleepy. She has a lot of lapses,” whispers Namni Goel, a sleep researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

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Sleep Apnea Is Tied to Gout

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A new study has found that sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk for gout, a painful disease of the big toe and other joints caused by elevated levels of uric acid in the blood.

Observational studies have shown that people with sleep apnea have a higher prevalence of excess uric acid, but until now it has been unclear whether sleep apnea is associated with gout, and how strongly.

Good Night's Sleep Strengthens Immune System 'Memory'

Complete, restful sleep may boost not only psychological but also immune system memories, according to latest research.

In an opinion piece published in Trends in Neurosciences on Sept. 29, researchers said that deep sleep may “strengthen immunological memories of previously encountered pathogens” – meaning the immune system can better remember bacterial or viral encounters through creating memory T-cells, which last for months to years and help the body recognize previous infections and respond quickly.

CDC Study Shows Where In America Getting Sleep Is The Hardest

Are you living in a sleep-deprived state? A new study published in the National Sleep Foundation’s journal Sleep Health has mapped out the counties in each state throughout America with the best and worst sleep quality. The findings reveal a pattern to United States’ sleep deprivation.

“Sleep is more than a physiologic process. Understanding the context of sleep will help us understand how and where to target our efforts,” the study’s lead author Michael Grandner, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Arizona, told The Guardian. “It is possible that improving sleep at the population level will be key to improving the public health.”

Poor sleep may contribute to Alzheimer's disease

New research suggests that a good night's sleep may play an important role in helping protect the brain against memory decline associated with Alzheimer's.

Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley found that a deficit in deep non-REM sleep, a sleep cycle associated with memory retention, was associated with a higher risk of buildup of brain proteins which are believed to play a role in triggering Alzheimer's disease. The buildup of toxic beta-amyloid proteins in the brain then leads to further sleep deprivation, resulting in a vicious cycle.

Lack of sleep could increase common cold risk

A new study published in Sleep has reinforced the importance of getting a good night's sleep. Researchers have demonstrated that not getting enough sleep could increase the risk of catching a cold.

The team reports that people who only get 6 hours sleep a night or less are four times more likely to catch a cold after exposure to the virus than people that get 7 or more hours sleep a night.

The Power of Sleep

New research shows a good night's rest isn't a luxury - it's critical for your brain and for your health

When our heads hit the pillow every night, we tend to think we’re surrendering. Not just to exhaustion, though there is that. We’re also surrendering our mind, taking leave of our focus on sensory cues, like noise and smell and blinking lights. It’s as if we’re powering ourselves down like we do the electronics at our bedside–going idle for a while, only to spring back into action when the alarm blasts hours later.