A study has found that poor sleep can increase levels of two proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease: amyloid beta and tau. Even one night of disrupted deep, slow-wave sleep increased levels of amyloid beta, while a week of poor sleep raised levels of tau.
This is yet another reason for us to try to have regular, disturbance-free sleep. Previously, there were reports that too short or too long hours of sleep lead to shortened lifespan.
Source: Medical News Today