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The connection between sleep and Alzheimer’s disease

And why sleep is so important for our wellbeing
Leanne Spencer

Leanne Spencer

3 Min Read

This week’s blog is about the connection between sleep and Alzheimer’s disease. There are around five hundred and twenty thousand cases of Alzheimer’s disease in the UK and it’s fast becoming a real epidemic. It’s something that many of us are more conscious of, and links are being made between Alzheimer’s and various lifestyle factors, one of which is sleep.

Sleep issues are really common for people with Alzheimer’s disease. And, in fact, sleep or difficulty sleeping, can be one of the early signs. Now, of course, there are many different reasons why you might struggle to sleep, so don’t jump to the conclusion that you’re going to get Alzheimer’s later in life or even early onset, as that’s not the case. However, sleep issues have been linked with Alzheimer’s disease, so it’s really important to get a good night’s sleep and to have really good sleep hygiene. I’ve written a number of blog posts all about sleep and how to improve the quality of it here.

So why is this an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease? It’s been discovered that sleep, or a lack thereof, can increase the amount of plaque on the brain, which can impair sleep. That’s essentially what Alzheimer’s is; plaque on the brain. Therefore, it’s important to make sure that you’re getting a good night’s sleep to prevent the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and any of the other sleep related conditions. Not only that but sleep is a great “nourisher” of our nature, to paraphrase Shakespeare. We need good quality sleep; seven to eight hours of sleep is about right for most people.

There is a very small percentage of the population that have a genetic variation that means they don’t need to get seven or eight hours sleep, but they can thrive on perhaps three or four. Some famous politicians made that claim. But, according to Matthew Walker in his brilliant book, Why We Sleep, which I highly recommend, if you were to round up to the nearest percent the amount of people that have that genetic variation, it would be zero; it’s extremely rare. Most people do need seven to eight hours of sleep.

I would really prioritise sleep in your life if you want to reduce your risk of serious illness, and get more out of your everyday life. If you’ve got questions, you can contact me at [email protected].

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Leanne Spencer is an entrepreneur, coach, TEDx Speaker, author of Remove the Guesswork, and founder of Bodyshot Performance Limited. Bodyshot is a health and fitness consultancy that helps busy professionals get more energy by removing the guesswork around their health, fitness and nutrition. Visit www.bodyshotperformance.com or email [email protected] to register your interest in our services and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Author(s)

  • Leanne Spencer

    Leanne is an award-winning entrepreneur and the founder of Bodyshot Performance Limited. She delivered a TEDx talk on 'Why fitness is more important than weight', is the author of bestselling books 'Remove the Guesswork' and 'Rise and Shine', and hosts a podcast called ’Remove the Guesswork‘. Leanne is the founder of Bodyshot Performance, an award-winning health and wellbeing company. Bodyshot Performance work with businesses of up to 500 people who want to create a culture of energy, vitality and performance through the business and position wellbeing as a competitive advantage. Bodyshot intersect the latest science and technology to provide unique solutions to the challenge of wellbeing in the workplace that have a direct impact on the bottom line. Our clients have won awards for wellbeing and recognise it directly improves employee engagement and retention and attracts talent into the business.  We also work with chronically stressed or burned out professionals to get you back in control of your health and able to do the things you want to do in life. My expertise is around health, fitness and wellbeing, specifically focusing on sleep, mental health, energy, body composition, digestion and fitness. I host a popular podcast on iTunes called ’Remove the Guesswork ‘, and in November 2016 I delivered a TEDx talk on 'Why fitness is more important than weight'. I’m the author of the bestselling books 'Remove the Guesswork' and 'Rise and Shine' and I regularly speak to corporates on health and wellbeing. My personal values are to live truthfully, considerately and to "suck all the marrow out of life" as Thoreau said. I support the charity Diversity Role Models which works to combat homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying. I recently completed the world’s toughest ski race to raise £10,125 for Alzheimer's Research as my father-in-law was profoundly ill with Alzheimers, and I am on a constant mission to find ways to live in a way that is sustainable and environmentally friendly. I love sport, fitness, reading, gardening, business, podcasting, and being with my cat and our scampish little rescue dog, Kami from Romania.