Brain Health
The Sleep Evidence: Five Sleep Problems and What Each Means for Dementia.
Five sleep problems, what each one is linked to, and which ones are worth acting on. This is the summary post for the series, written to stand on its own.
Sleep
Brain Health
The Sleep Evidence, Part 4: Does Treating a Sleep Disorder Lower Dementia Risk?
Apnea and insomnia can be treated, so does treating them protect the brain? Nobody has run the trial that would answer it. What exists is observational data pointing toward benefit and a handful of randomized trials that get cited as proof it fails, when most were never built to detect success.
Brain Health
The Sleep Evidence, Part 3: Sleep Apnea, Insomnia, and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder
Three sleep disorders, three different relationships to dementia. Apnea and insomnia are treatable conditions that wire into the brain's overnight clearance. REM sleep behavior disorder is not a habit or a risk factor at all, but an early sign of a disease already underway.
Brain Health
The Sleep Evidence, Part 2: Does Sleep Clear the Brain of Alzheimer's Proteins?
During deep sleep, the brain clears out metabolic waste, including the amyloid protein tied to Alzheimer's. It is one of the most compelling mechanisms in brain health, and one of the most overstated. Here is what the glymphatic system actually does, and what it cannot yet prove in people.
Brain Health
The Sleep Evidence, Part 1: How Much Sleep, and How Well?
Sleep is the second pillar, and one of the most confusing. Both too little and too much sleep track with higher dementia risk, and cause runs in both directions. This series works through what the evidence on duration, quality, and timing actually supports, starting with why more is not safer.