
Sleep Link to Dementia REVEALED (NOT What You Think)
I have an exercise I’d like you to try. Or a “thought experiment,” as Einstein liked to call them.
The next time you’re with a group of seniors, look around. Visualize a big red letter “D” on the forehead of every third person. Now imagine all the marked people dying with some form of dementia.
What if I told you that the exercise was real?
Because statistically speaking, that’s exactly what will happen here in the real world – one out of every three folks will develop dementia.
It’s a terrifyingly high number. And with no cure in sight, all signs point to it worsening before it improves.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. There’s a lot of excellent research going on. And I’m hopeful an Alzheimer’s cure will be found in my lifetime.
In the meantime, our best bet is to learn how to spot the disease as early as possible. Then we can throw on the brakes.
Lucky for us research has already identified one of the FIRST signs. And when you learn how to spot dementia in its earliest stages, you can take steps to slow it down to a crawl.
(I’ll share some tips to help you do precisely that!)
We know there’s a link between lack of sleep and Alzheimer’s. Several studies have made the connection.
But one study stands out from the crowd. Because instead of focusing on sleep quantity, it looked at sleep quality — specifically deep sleep.
Deep sleep, or slow-wave sleep, is a deceptively busy time. You LOOK zonked out, but your brain is super busy consolidating memories and experiences. Getting enough deep sleep is vital to ensure you wake up feeling energized and refreshed.
Researchers recruited 119 volunteers with either no cognitive problems or mild cognitive impairment for the study.
Next, they tracked how many hours the participants slept, monitored their brain waves using an EEG, and measured their levels of tau build-up. Tau is a protein in the brain that’s associated with brain damage, cognitive decline, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Folks who didn’t get enough SLOW-WAVE sleep had higher levels of tau. But surprisingly, LACK OF SLEEP alone wasn’t connected to increases in tau, just lack of deep sleep.
In other words, when it comes to sleep QUALITY is more important than QUANTITY.
Of course, it’s easy to know when you’re not getting enough sleep. But how do you know if you’re getting enough DEEP sleep?
Following are five tell-tale signs that you’re not:
- You wake up feeling groggy.
- You’re tired all the time.
- You’re experiencing brain fog.
- You feel more irritable than usual.
- You crave foods high in fat and sugar.
If you suspect you’re not getting enough deep sleep, consider getting tested for Alzheimer’s.
To improve your deep sleep, avoid blue light at night (from electronic screens), stick to the same bedtime, avoid big meals before hitting the hay, and consider sleeping in a cooler room (about 67 degrees).
P.S. Poor sleep can contribute to every major health problem you can think of… high blood pressure, diabetes, heart failure, stroke… you name it. THIS simple fix can make a dramatic difference in how much sleep you get—while boosting the QUALITY of that sleep at the same time. Click for all the details.
Source:
“Reduced non-rapid eye movement sleep is associated with tau pathology in early Alzheimer’s disease.” Science Translational Medicine, Jan. 9, 2019 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aau6550

Written By Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D.
For years he’s been the trusted doctor for celebrities, world-class athletes, and countless seniors looking to reclaim their health.
And now…for the first time ever… he’s making his medical breakthroughs available to readers all across America.
Dr. Richard Gerhauser, M.D. is one of the most pioneering and innovative minds in medicine today – and he delivers cutting-edge cures each month through his Natural Health Response newsletter.
Natural Health Response readers get full access to Dr. Gerhauser’s protocols for chronic pain… heart disease… diabetes… Alzheimer’s… and even cancer. These are the very same treatments Dr. Gerhauser recommends to his own patients at his practice in Tucson, Arizona.
In addition to being a board-certified medical doctor, Dr. Gerhauser has earned two master’s degrees and has served as a clinical professor at the University of Arizona.
And as a physician at the world-famous Canyon Ranch, Dr. Gerhauser treated celebrities from around the world who paid dearly for the type of next-generation health information he provides Natural Health Response readers each month.
View More Free Articles
4 Early Warning Signs of Colon Cancer
No matter what kind of cancer you have, the earlier you catch it, the better. Unfortunately, some types don’t present many obvious warning signs in their earliest stages. Instead, they fly under the radar until it’s too late to stop them. Colon cancer falls into this category. It’s treatable IF caught early enough (which is...
Slash Breast Cancer Recurrence by 40%
Breast cancer doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Screening and treatment options have become much more advanced in recent years. That means women of all ages have a FAR greater chance of survival. But if you want to boost your odds of a favorable outcome even further (and who doesn’t?!), a new study reveals...
10-Minute Trick FIGHTS Cancer
The moment you’re diagnosed with cancer, your focus INSTANTLY changes. Instead of thinking about prevention, you want to know precisely how to improve your prognosis. You want to reduce the side effects of any treatments you receive. You want to improve your quality of life. But more than anything, you want to BEAT THE CANCER...
Beat Age-Related Blindness with Food
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. That may be the case, but on a more practical level, the eyes are the windows to the world. The older you get, the more you realize how true this is. For many, waning eyesight starts with needing readers or a stronger eyeglass prescription. But...
Toxic Chemicals Hiding in Your Home
There are plenty of ways to make good decisions for your health. Some of the first that come to mind are improving your diet, exercising more, and getting plenty of light exposure. But I hope you’re also paying attention to what you’re putting ON—and breathing INTO—your body. You see if you’re not careful, hidden toxins...
Sweet Treat PROTECTS Your Heart
Summer is right around the corner, which means some of my favorite fruits are coming into season. If you have yet to make friends with a local farmer, I recommend doing it soon. For starters, I like knowing where my food comes from. But more than that, consuming local, in-season, organically grown produce is as...
Ancient Therapy FOILS Arthritis Flare-Ups
Mainstream medicine is SO predictable. You go to your doctor with a problem; he sends you home with a drug. Rheumatoid arthritis fits this formula perfectly. If you have it, you likely have a medicine cabinet full of drugs… arthritis meds, corticosteroids, NSAIDs, you name it. Which, of course, means you’re also likely dealing with...
Fun in the Sun Habit Boosts Cancer Risk?
Summer is just a few short weeks away. If you squint, you can practically SEE it approaching. Soon, millions will head to the beach, the pool, and the park to enjoy the beautiful weather. But there’s one summertime habit that can harm your health. In fact, it could send your cancer risk SOARING. If you...
The Dark Side of Melatonin
If you’re having trouble sleeping, I don’t blame you for looking for solutions. Sleep problems don’t JUST leave you feeling miserable. They also harm your health. Two of the most common sleep solutions are sleeping pills and melatonin. But buyer beware. Common is often mistaken for SAFE. But NEITHER option fit in this category. Sleeping...
Docs Overprescribe THIS Common Heart Med?!
Big Pharma doesn’t want to provide cures. They want lifetime customers. To do that, they must convince your doctor that you NEED a drug for the rest of your life. The doc writes your prescription, and then you’re HOOKED. Case in point: There’s a current standard procedure to prescribe a common heart med to patients...