Dementia, sleep better…stay healthy!

The two most feared diseases throughout developed nations are dementia and cancer. Both are related to inadequate sleep.

But it is also becoming recognised as a key lifestyle factor determining whether or not you will develop Alzheimer’s disease.

Sleep quality — especially that of deep, NREM or non-rapid eye movement sleep, which is the sleep we have in the first part of the night — naturally deteriorates as we age, which is linked to a decline in memory.

However, if you assess a patient with Alzheimer’s disease, the disruption of deep sleep is far more exaggerated. More telling, perhaps, is the fact that sleep disturbance precedes the onset of Alzheimer’s by several years, suggesting that it may be an early warning sign of the condition, or even a contributor to it.

For more visit the Daily Mail website