In a nearly 2,000-word article, the Chicago Tribune (11/11, Taylor) reports that “a growing body of research is exploring links among sleep deprivation, sleep disturbance and Alzheimer’s disease.” For example, Dr. Erik Musiek, an assistant professor of neurology at Washington University in St. Louis, “said new research suggests that sleep and circadian rhythm problems experienced earlier in life actually may contribute to the risk of Alzheimer’s and accelerate the disease.”
In addition, a PET scan study of 70 seniors conducted at Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging revealed that people who reported “poorer sleep quality and shorter sleep duration had higher amounts of beta-amyloid in their brains than those who reported sleeping longer and better.”
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— [Free Registration Required] “Sleep Could be the Missing Link in Dementia,” Mark Taylor, Chicago Tribune, November 10, 2015.