Good Quality Sleep Can Prevent Brain Disease

A new study on the importance of good sleep was released in the scientific journal  PLOS ONE  on February 19, 2020. According to the publication,  there is evidence that adequate sleep can prevent brain disease.

The study was carried out by researchers from the  Barcelona Brain Health Initiative  (BBHI) project, sponsored by the  Institut Guttmann  and  La Caixa , in Barcelona (Spain). This study was based on data collected through an online questionnaire. Volunteers aged between 40 and 65 years who did not have any health problems associated with sleep were recruited for the survey.

In total, 4,500 people were followed for one year. Finally, it became clear that the quality of sleep is crucial in reducing the risk of neurological or neuropsychiatric disorders and, in turn, these diseases affect the normal sleep.

the scientific study

Research on good sleep quality and its effects on brain disease  began in 2017 with 4,500 volunteers. Of those, 2,353 continued to provide data for an entire year. Among the latter, 73 were diagnosed with new neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases.

The scientific director of the research was Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone, who highlighted in the final report the importance of healthy lifestyles. The study results show that these are critical for maintaining good brain health. A low level of physical activity, for example, is a determining factor in sleep quality.

On the other hand, Dr. Gabriele Cattaneo, one of the authors of the study, pointed out that women who do not have a good quality of sleep are at greater risk of suffering from depression. A relationship was also found between poor sleep quality and the presence of other diseases, such as hepatitis and hypertension.

Good sleep quality: decisive factor

The Barcelona Brain Health Initiative (BBHI) research project  is not the first to talk about the relationship between good sleep quality and the prevention of brain disease. In April 2019, experts gathered at the XXVII Congress of the Spanish Sleep Society pointed out something similar.

During this event, experts discussed and debated the quality of sleep and its relationship to brain diseases. They indicated in their conclusions that, in recent years, there has been ample evidence that there could be a two-way relationship between sleep disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Among these pathologies, we have Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s as the most common.

Likewise, they stated that it has been detected that, in many cases, sleep problems appear a few years before the first symptoms of different dementias appear. Therefore, this factor should be treated as a warning sign.

In turn,  those individuals with brain diseases deteriorate more rapidly when they also suffer from sleep disorders . Dr. Sandra Giménez Badia, a clinical neurophysiologist at the Hospital de Santa Creu e Sant Pau in Barcelona, ​​​​revealed some devastating information: up to 70% of those suffering from some form of dementia also have sleep problems.

Sleep and Alzheimer’s

The Pasqual Maragall Foundation, which specializes in Alzheimer’s research, published a study in the journal  Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy . The study indicated, after analyzing 1,638 people, that those who had sleep disorders had a smaller volume in brain regions such  as the precuneus and the posterior cingulate cortex.

These areas of the brain  participate in processes such as memory and intellectual performance. They are also the areas where the first signs of deterioration appear, particularly in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

They also found white matter changes in the brain  and stronger effects of insomnia in carriers of the APOE-ε4 gene variant. In other words, it means there is a link between insomnia and Alzheimer’s risk. Details are not yet known, but the relationship is under study.

For all of the above reasons,  if a person does not have a good quality of sleep, he is exposed to various health problems. Therefore, insomnia, interrupted sleep and all forms of inadequate rest must be considered triggers of health problems.

Finally, as we’ve seen in this article, there are many conditions that require a doctor’s appointment to initiate detailed follow-up.