Daytime Sleepiness May Indicate a Higher Risk for Alzheimer's Disease

A study published in Sleep suggests excessive sleepiness during the day may indicate a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's, reports Harvard Medical School . Researchers asked 124 healthy older adults, average age 60, about how often they felt drowsy or fell asleep during the day when they would rather be awake, as well as their napping patterns. The group then underwent regular positron emission tomography scans over the next 15 years to look for beta-amyloid in the brain. Subjects who noted frequent excessive daytime sleepiness were about three times more likely to have beta-amyloid accumulation compared to those who were not sleepy during the day. Previous study findings implied that when sleep is inadequate or disrupted, the brain has less time to eliminate metabolic debris that can lead to beta-amyloid buildup.