Researchers found that chronic sleep deprivation increased so-called plaques in the brain thought to be a main cause of the condition and other dementias. They also found that orexin, a protein that helps regulate the sleep cycle, appears to be directly involved in the increase. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital noticed that levels of amyloid beta, a protein that forms the plaques, rose and fell in association with sleep and wakefulness. They found levels in both mice and humans increased when they were awake and decreased when they slept. Depriving the mice of sleep, caused a 25 percent increase in amyloid beta levels, it was discovered. Excess sleep could reduce it by 80 per cent. Professor David Holtzman, neurologist in chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, said the results showed that lack of sleep could have ‘potential long-term impacts on brain health. When Professor Holtzman’s group injected orexin into the brains of the mice, mice stayed awake longer, and amyloid beta levels increased. While the exact cause fo Alzheimer’s remains unknown it is thought to be connected to plaques and tangles that effectively ‘silt up the information channels of the […]