Getting more than six hours of quality sleep a night may help prevent or slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, a new study has found.
The research, supported by Alzheimer's Research Australia, found the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain - a process linked to the development and progression of the disease - is closely related to individual sleep patterns.
Researchers from Murdoch University in Perth determined that poorer sleep quality - and lower quantity - were associated with faster accumulation of beta-amyloid in older adults, whose memory and thinking skills were still unimpaired.
Associate Professor Stephanie Rainey-Smith from the university's Centre for Healthy Ageing said the findings are important in the ongoing fight against Alzheimer's, for which there is currently no known cure.
"Alzheimer's disease is a condition traditionally diagnosed in later life, but whose pathological processes commence much earlier," Rainey-Smith said on Monday.
"There is currently no known cure for Alzheimer's disease, but our research suggests that we should be looking at personalised sleep improvement interventions as a modifiable risk factor against Alzheimer's with potential to delay or prevent the onset and progression of symptoms for those in the early stages of the disease.
"Our findings add to the evidence regarding how lifestyle factors like sleep might be harnessed in the fight against neurodegenerative diseases."
Alzheimer's Research Australia, a leading medical research institute specialising in the disease and related dementia, has backed the findings and hopes the study will prompt further research into the link between sleep quality and Alzheimer's.
"We are delighted to have been able to support this research which highlights the importance of quality sleep for brain health," said Professor Vicky Vass, the CEO of the institute.
"We look forward to learning more about how sleep improvement could provide new hope in making Alzheimer's a distant memory."
The longitudinal study involved an analysis of 189 cognitively unimpaired adults aged 60 to 80, with up to six years of follow-up data including brain imaging.
The full study was published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring on Monday.
Earlier this year, it was revealed a possibly game-changing new blood test that screens for Alzheimer's may be one step closer to reality, with leading Kiwi researcher Dr Erin Cawston, an Auckland research fellow from the Centre for Brain Research, working behind the scenes.
The simple blood test has been shown to detect levels of a protein called P-TAU-217 - an indicator of damaging plaque that builds up inside the brain - and can screen the disease with "high accuracy", even before symptoms begin to show.
About 55 million people worldwide have Alzheimer's, with one person diagnosed every three seconds. Dementia affects about 70,000 Kiwis, costing the country around $2.5 billion. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer's, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of cases.
The rate of progression for the disease varies widely. On average, people live for another three to 11 years once diagnosed.
