What happens to your brain, if you often wake up in the middle of the night?

In today's world, lack of sleep is a problem that many people face, regardless of profession, standard of living, age and gender. In the risk group, for various reasons, there are both schoolchildren, students, working people and even pensioners. For example, according to a 2013 study in America, 40 percent of the country's population spend less than the recommended amount of time each night in bed. It is worth saying that in 1942 this figure was 11 percent.

Bad sleep and Alzheimer's disease

Negative side effects of lack of sleep are well studied, but it turned out that your health is affected not only by the duration of sleep, but also by its quality. A recent study shows the connection between frequent awakenings in the middle of the night and an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists from the University of Illinois conducted a sleep study in which 516 adults aged 71-78 years took part. The results show that the level of proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease (known as biomarkers) was the highest among participants suffering from breathing disorders during sleep, which led to frequent awakenings.

Respiratory disturbance in sleep

According to the Association of Alzheimer's Disease, 20 percent of women and 30 percent of men with this problem also suffer from apnea, the most common breathing disorder in sleep.

Apnea is very different from random awakenings (which can be a mechanism of evolutionary protection). People who suffer from this breathing disorder during sleep are known to wake up more than 60 times a night.

If you have been suffering for a long time because of this problem, or just recently noticed that you started to wake up in the middle of the night, you should consult your doctor as soon as possible to prevent undesirable consequences for your brain.