SLEEPING pills could help fend off dementia, a study shows.
Taking insomnia meds before going to bed reduced Alzheimer’s proteins in people’s brains, US researchers found.
GettyWashington University researchers found healthy adults had lower levels of Alzheimer’s-causing proteins when given sleeping pills[/caption]
Missing out on sleep is a risk factor for the memory-robbing condition, but early stages of it can also disrupt your kip.
Researchers said the findings suggest pills could be used in future to slow or stop the progression of the disease.
Dr Brendan Lucey, of Washington University, said: “This drug is already available and now we have evidence it affects the levels of proteins that are critical for driving Alzheimer’s.
“We don’t yet know whether long-term use is effective in staving off cognitive decline, and if it is, at what dose and for whom.
“Still, these results are very encouraging.”
Around 944,000 Brits are currently living with dementia and experts predict the numbers will exceed 1million by the end of the decade.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of the condition, and is thought to be caused by build-ups of proteins in the brain, including tau and amyloid.
Previous research has shown sleep deprivation can increase amyloid levels, boosting the risk of the disease.
The latest study, published in Annals of Neurology, looked at how taking sleeping pills affected the proteins.
Researchers tracked levels in 38 healthy adults aged between 45 to 65 over two nights of sleep.
One group was given a low dose of 10mg of the sleeping pill suvorexant, another was given 20mg, while a third had a placebo at 9pm before going to sleep.
Amyloid levels dropped between 10 to 20 per cent in those on the high dose compared to the placebo group.
Tau levels also dropped up to 15 per cent but there was no significant difference for the low-dose group.
Dr Lucey said: “If we can lower amyloid every day, we think the accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain will decrease over time.
“I’m hopeful that we will eventually develop drugs that take advantage of the link between sleep and Alzheimer’s to prevent cognitive decline.
“At this point, the best advice I can give is to get a good night’s sleep if you can.”