According to a new study, taking sleeping pills may lower the levels of proteins in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease. This breakthrough research provides hope for the millions of people suffering from Alzheimer’s and those at risk of developing the cognitive disease. In this article, we’ll examine the findings of the study in greater detail and explore its implications for Alzheimer’s and sleep medicine.
Sleep problems can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease. Many patients who are later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s begin having trouble sleeping and staying asleep years before cognitive symptoms such as memory loss and confusion appear. Alzheimer’s disease causes brain changes that interrupt sleep, and poor sleep encourages damaging brain changes, making it a vicious cycle. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered a potential way to help break that cycle. A small two-night study has shown that people who took a sleeping medication before bed experienced a drop in the levels of key Alzheimer’s proteins. This is a good sign since higher levels of such proteins are associated with a worsening disease. Although more research is required to verify the viability of using sleep medications to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, the study indicates the potential. However, the study’s senior author, Brendan Lucey, an associate professor of neurology, has urged that “it would be premature for people who are concerned about developing Alzheimer’s to interpret it as a reason to start taking suvorexant every night.”
The sleeping aid used in the study is known as Suvorexant, which belongs to a class of insomnia medications known as dual orexin receptor antagonists. Orexin is a natural biomolecule that promotes wakefulness. When orexin is blocked, people fall asleep. Poor sleep is linked to higher levels of both amyloid and tau in the brain. Tau is a second brain protein that begins to form tangles that are toxic to neurons after years of amyloid accumulation. People with Alzheimer’s disease start experiencing cognitive symptoms like memory loss around the time tau tangles become detectable. In a first step to assess the effect of orexin inhibitors on people, Lucey and colleagues recruited 38 participants aged 45 to 65 and without cognitive impairments to undergo a two-night sleep study.
The participants were given a lower dose (10 mg) of suvorexant (13 people), a higher dose (20 mg) of suvorexant (12 people), or a placebo (13 people) at 9 p.m. Researchers withdrew a small amount of cerebrospinal fluid via spinal tap every two hours for 36 hours, starting one hour before the sleeping aid or placebo was administered, to measure how amyloid and tau levels changed over the next day and a half. Amyloid levels dropped 10% to 20% in the cerebrospinal fluid of people who had received the high dose of suvorexant compared to people who had received a placebo, and the levels of a key form of tau known as hyperphosphorylated tau dropped 10% to 15% compared to people who had received a placebo. Both differences are statistically significant. Hyperphosphorylated tau levels in the high-dose group had risen by 24 hours after the first dose, while amyloid levels remained low compared to the placebo group. A second dose of suvorexant, administered on the second night, sent the levels of both proteins down again for people in the high-dose group.
While the study is preliminary and more research is required to assess the longer-term effects of orexin inhibitors in people at higher risk of dementia, Lucey is hopeful that future studies will develop drugs that take advantage of the link between sleep and Alzheimer’s to prevent cognitive decline. He advises people who have trouble sleeping to see a sleep specialist and get their sleep problems treated, as getting a good night’s sleep may help to reduce the chances of cognitive decline.
In conclusion, the recent study about the positive impact of sleeping pills on Alzheimer’s proteins is promising news for millions of people around the world who suffer from this devastating disease. While further research is required to fully understand the correlation between sleep quality and the prevention of Alzheimer’s, this latest development provides a glimmer of hope for those seeking effective treatments or ways to keep the disease at bay. With new initiatives underway, it’s only a matter of time before we unlock the secrets to a better night’s sleep and a healthier brain.
