Sleep's Role in Alzheimer's Risk

Scientists discovered that poor sleep in your 30s and 40s can predict Alzheimer's risk

decades later. Here's why. During deep sleep, your brain activates a waste-clearing

system called the glymphatic system. It flushes out toxic proteins, including beta-amyloid,

the stuff that clumps up and causes Alzheimer's. If you're not getting enough deep sleep, those proteins accumulate.

Over years, they build up into plaques that destroy brain cells. A 2021 study found

that people who slept less than six hours a night in middle age had a 30% higher risk

of dementia later in life. Your brain doesn't just rest during sleep.

It cleans itself. Skip that, and you're literally letting toxins pile up in your brain.