A lot can happen in a night.
In Vegas, you could win a fortune. Lose it all. Then get married by Elvis, just for good measure. All in a single night.
But you don’t have to go to Vegas for a life-changing night. It could happen anywhere, including in one room in your own home.
Your bedroom.
New research reveals you could lose something far more valuable than any fortune in a single night. You could lose your mind.
And if you have poor sleep habits… even only sometimes… consider this your wakeup call to make some MAJOR changes. Because if you don’t, you could be gambling with your health.
Dementia risk linked to poor sleep
Bad sleep habits don’t just leave you feeling wrecked the next day. Over the long haul, poor sleep has been linked to…
- heart disease
- heart attack
- stroke
- weight gain
- diabetes
Plus, folks who don’t get enough quality deep sleep are also at higher risk for developing memory loss, cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
But now a disturbing new study reveals that damage can start to develop FAR sooner than we ever imagined. In fact, researchers say after just one SINGLE night of poor sleep, you could be risking the kind of brain damage that’s linked to dementia.
The new study finds that a single night of missed sleep can lead to higher levels of tau tangles. These damaged proteins typically appear in high numbers in the brains of folks who are battling all kinds of cognitive decline… especially Alzheimer’s disease.
In experiments on healthy volunteers with healthy sleep habits, tau levels rose by about two percent after each typical night of rest. But when the volunteers were deprived of sleep, the tau levels jumped by nearly NINE TIMES that level, increasing by 17 percent.
How to keep your head in the game
This is just one study, of course. But the findings gel perfectly with what we already know about how the brain works.
Typically, your neurons generate tau proteins when they’re active during the day. The excess and damaged proteins are then swept away by your brain’s natural detox process when you sleep at night.
But when you don’t get enough shuteye, your brain can’t effectively flush away those excess proteins. And when it can’t clear the tau away, you can start to suffer from cognitive struggles and – eventually – dementia.
It’s also likely why other studies on sleep and brain health have found that older folks who don’t get the right levels of sleep have a MUCH higher risk of cognitive impairment, decline, and the nightmares that often follow.
But the new research also reveals a way out too.
If you’re struggling to get quality deep sleep, don’t ignore it. And don’t train yourself to mask the sleepiness with another cup of coffee either. Get help instead.
In many cases, sleep struggles in older patients are caused by low levels of the “sleep hormone” melatonin. If that’s true, in your case, melatonin supplements could help raise your levels safely and effectively. Look for a micronized spray, which gets absorbed more quickly, so you get to sleep faster.
Don’t risk dementia. Be sure you’re getting the sleep you need to protect your brain night after night.
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