Researchers studying the science of sleep are building a growing body of evidence connecting both the quantity and quality of slumber to the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Now a group shows that people who take longer to enter the dream phase of sleep known as rapid eye movement (REM) may be exhibiting an early symptom of the disease, according to work published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.
The results have implications for three groups: people concerned about their Alzheimer’s risk, doctors who diagnose and treat the disease, and researchers who study sleep.
For that first group, Yue Leng, a psychiatry professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and an author of the study, has a simple message: “You really, really need to pay attention to your sleep,” she says.
Researchers don’t yet know whether someone’s difficulty entering REM is only a diagnostic tool ...
