Jennifer Aniston, Mariah Carey, insomnia and how one night of bad sleep can increase Alzheimer’s risk

A poor night’s sleep increases levels of beta-amyloid plaque and tau, which are both linked to Alzheimer’s

We share eight reasons you wake up in the night, and how to avoid it

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Even one night’s bad sleep can increase the risk of Alzheimer’s. Photo: Alamy

Published: 5:00am, 13 May 2019Updated: 7:38pm, 13 May 2019

You wouldn’t think they had a problem in the bedroom, but Hollywood celebrities Mariah Carey, George Clooney and Jennifer Aniston have all admitted to suffering from insomnia at some point in their lives.

In a 2012 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, heartthrob actor Clooney revealed that he wakes up as many as five times a night, and in 2014, actress Aniston shared on The Dr Oz Show that if she wakes up at 3am she finds it hard to doze off again.

They aren’t the only ones: Getting an uninterrupted six to eight hours of sleep is something many stressed-out and overworked Hongkongers struggle with. But before you think that the odd night of tossing and turning is harmless, consider recent research that found that even one night of sleeplessness could have a negative effect on your brain.

One small study, done by scientists from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in the United States, revealed that adults who experienced a single night of sleep deprivation showed an increase in levels of beta-amyloid plaque in their brain. Beta-amyloid is a metabolic waste product that is found in the fluid between brain cells.

A CAT scan of an 84-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease. Photo: Alamy

The accumulation of this sticky protein can disrupt communication between brain cells and has long been linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia among older people. (The researchers pointed out that the increase in the plaque was not related to the genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease.)

Jennifer Aniston, Mariah Carey, insomnia and how one night of bad sleep can increase Alzheimer’s risk

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}A poor night’s sleep increases levels of beta-amyloid plaque and tau, which are both linked to Alzheimer’s We share eight reasons you wake up in the night, and how to avoid it

A poor night’s sleep increases levels of beta-amyloid plaque and tau, which are both linked to Alzheimer’s

We share eight reasons you wake up in the night, and how to avoid it