白天容易打瞌睡?可能是老年癡呆的先兆!大綱

Are you excessively sleepy during the day? If so, you may have a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to a recent study published online Sept. 5, 2018, by the journal Sleep.

你白天特別困嗎？《Sleep》雜誌2018年9月5日新發表的研究表明，你如果特別困，那麼患老年癡呆的風險就更高。

Scientists 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 habits. The group then had regular PET scans over the next 15 years to look for beta-amyloid in the brain, high amounts of which are a hallmark for Alzheimer's.

科學家找了124位平均年齡60歲的健康老人，詢問他們白天想清醒的時候是否會感覺睏倦或睡着，還詢問了他們的午睡習慣。然後在接下來的15年裏研究團隊定期對他們進行PET掃描，在大腦中尋找β-澱粉樣蛋白，含量過高就是患上了老年癡呆。

During the follow-up, the researchers found that people who reported frequent excessive daytime sleepiness were about three times more likely to have beta-amyloid buildup than those who weren't sleepy during the day.

通過跟蹤調查，研究人員發現自稱白天經常睡眠過多的人β-澱粉樣蛋白堆積的風險比白天不困的人高三倍。

Findings from previous studies suggest that when sleep is inadequate or disrupted — say, because of insomnia, sleep apnea, or any other sleep-related problem — our brains have less time to clear out metabolic debris that can lead to beta-amyloid build up. And if you don't sleep well, you are more likely to fight sleepiness and fatigue the next day.

此前研究的結果表明失眠、睡眠呼吸暫停或其他與睡眠有關的問題導致睡眠不足或中斷時，我們的大腦沒有足夠時間清理代謝碎片，從而導致β-澱粉樣蛋白堆積。如果你睡眠不好，第二天更有可能需要抵抗睏倦和疲勞。