A new study from Montreal concludes that chronic insomnia and problems such as sleep apnea are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The study, conducted jointly between Sacré-Coeur Hospital and Concordia University, aimed to understand whether sleep problems and Alzheimer’s are intrinsically linked.
“We know that people who have Alzheimer’s, who don’t have sleep problems, develop them. We know that people who do not have Alzheimer’s and who have sleep problems possibly also seem to develop Alzheimer’s,” summarizes Judes Poirier, psychiatrist and researcher at the Douglas Institute.
So, by studying more than 26,000 participants over three years, the researchers tried to determine whether it was sleep problems that led to Alzheimer’s, or whether it was Alzheimer’s that led to sleep problems.
“Sleep disturbance issues are one indicator. The minute the brain chemistry starts to be altered […] there is a risk that it will give rise to Alzheimer’s,” says Dr. Poirier.
Dr. Poirier adds that this is therefore a very interesting avenue for doctors and researchers with a view to potentially finding a cure.
“People who have biological traces in their brain that the disease is taking place, therefore biological changes linked to Alzheimer’s, are also those who most frequently show sleep abnormalities,” he summarizes. -he.
Moreover, the American health authorities on Friday authorized a new drug once morest Alzheimer’s aimed at reducing the cognitive decline of patients suffering from this neurodegenerative disease.
It was a long-awaited treatment following the failed launch of a previous drug with a similar mechanism a year and a half ago.
