• As many as 70 million people have consistent sleeping issues.
• Not getting enough sleep each night can raise a person’s risk for several health concerns, including cognitive decline and dementia.
• For the first time a new study describes the synchronized oscillations during sleep that power the brain’s glymphatic system to help remove ‘waste’ associated with neurodegenerative diseases, via a mouse model.
• Researchers also found that a commonly prescribed sleep aid might suppress those oscillations, disrupting the brain’s waste removal during sleep.
• Looking at all the possible factors that might contribute to potential cognitive decline risk is important, particularly as new research estimates that dementia risk the risk after the age of 55 among Americans has now more than doubled.

Written by Corrie Pelc on January 14, 2025 — Fact checked by Jill Seladi-Schulman, Ph.D.

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