More and more data link insufficient or disturbed night sleep with a greater risk of pathological cognitive decline
It spreads through our society a silent epidemic of sleep disturbances which, sometimes, not even doctors are aware of. This is demonstrated by a study presented by Claudio Bassetti of the University of Bern at the ninth congress of the European Society of Neurology, held in Brussels: 46% of the subjects evaluated presented excessive daytime sleepiness or insomnia, but only in 32% of cases was there a diagnosis of a sleep disorder. «This situation has been raging for at least 20 years, compromising the health and quality of life of millions of people: the “Morpheus” study of 2004 had provided almost identical results – he says Liborio Parrino, director of the Neurology Unit and the Sleep Medicine Center of the University of Parma —. If a sleep disorder is identified in only a third of insomniac or daytime sleepy patients, European doctors still have a lot of work to do.”
Two parallel epidemics
«The matter is also complicated because more and more studies indicate that this epidemic is associated with another one and the two seem increasingly closely linked to each other – he comments Alessandro Padovani of the University of Brescia, president of the Italian Society of Neurology -. A study just published on Jama by American, Australian and Canadian colleagues directed by Jayandra Jung Himali of the Universities of Massachusetts and Texas indicates how Advancing age leads to a reduction in slow wave sleep, i.e. the deep and most restorative sleep, essential for removing the catabolites of cerebral metabolism and for consolidating memory and cognitive functions.” Until now, it has been known that chronic insomnia in middle age, from ages 50 to 70, is typically associated with a 30% increase in the risk of late-onset dementia. This study was more precise: every year for a percentage decrease in deep sleep there is an increase in the risk of dementia by 27%. «Given that there is still no truly definitive cure for this serious disease – comments Padovani – eliminating sleep disorders, which can instead be treated, would help reduce the fearful number of 153 million demented people predicted in the world by 2050». «Sleep alterations precede dementia and not vice versa – she concludes – and this can be useful, because establishing treatments that ensure good quality and quantity of night’s rest can slow down cognitive dysfunction in general and Alzheimer’s disease itself».
Sleep and the immune system
In this sleep disorders/dementia relationship the immune system is also involved which in humans follows circadian diurnal patterns so that cytokines and immunoglobulins increase at nightwhile immune cells (T, B, NK lymphocytes, neutrophils and macrophages) are at their highest levels in the early evening and at their lowest levels in the morning. Sleep disorders interrupt this regulation, creating conditions favorable to the development of neurodegenerative diseases where inflammation also plays an important role. Treatment of insomnia can redirect altered inflammatory immune profiles, mitigating not only the risk of inflammation-related diseases such as neurodegenerative, cardiovascular or mental health, but also reducing susceptibility to infectious diseases. «Good sleep in terms of quality and duration also becomes an effective vaccine against infectious diseases – Parrino insists –. In another study by researchers at the University of California it was seen that those who sleep little and poorly are much more susceptible to colds and sinusitis compared to those who rest adequately.” By infecting 164 healthy volunteers via nasal drops with the cold virus, after keeping them closed for a week in a hotel where they were continuously monitored at night, it was found that those who slept less than 5 hours fell ill 4.5 times more than those who slept for at least 7 hours.
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November 24, 2023 (modified November 24, 2023 | 08:34)
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