Health
Poor sleep in middle age could affect the brain in a surprising way, study finds
There are some obvious signs of a poor night’s sleep — fatigue, irritability and trouble focusing, to name a few — but it can also have some hidden effects.
In a new study led by University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), poor sleep was linked to faster brain aging in middle-aged adults.
While previous studies have focused on older adults, the average age of the 589 people in this study was 40 years old, according to a press release.
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The participants completed two sleep questionnaires five years apart. After 15 years, they underwent brain scans.
In a new study led by University of California, San Francisco, poor sleep was linked to faster brain aging in middle-aged adults. (iStock)
“We calculated brain age using a machine learning approach, using MRI data to estimate the amount of brain shrinkage corresponding to a specific age,” study author Clémence Cavaillès, PhD, a researcher at UCSF, told Fox News Digital.
“We showed that poor sleep that persisted over five years — and specifically when it related to insomnia symptoms — was found to be highly relevant to brain aging.”
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When evaluating sleep quality, the researchers looked at six poor sleep characteristics: short sleep duration, bad sleep quality, difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, early morning awakening and daytime sleepiness.
“We showed that poor sleep that persisted over five years — and specifically when it related to insomnia symptoms — was found to be highly relevant to brain aging,” said the lead study author. (iStock)
Middle-aged participants with two to three poor sleep characteristics had a brain age that was 1.6 years older than those with no more than one poor sleep characteristic, according to Cavaillès.
Those with more than three poor sleep characteristics exhibited a brain age of 2.6 years older.
“Poor sleep that persisted over five years — and specifically when it related to insomnia symptoms — was found to be highly relevant to brain aging.”
The findings were published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“These findings are critical because they demonstrate that the link between sleep disturbances and brain health extends beyond older adulthood, suggesting that poor sleep in early midlife may already contribute to accelerated brain aging,” he said.
“If someone is facing persistent problems with sleep quality or insomnia symptoms, they should undergo further evaluation,” a doctor advised. (iStock)
Advanced brain aging is associated with cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease-related patterns, the researcher noted.
“Therefore, poor sleep may be an important target for early interventions aimed at preventing neurocognitive decline, even before the lesion’s accumulation begins.”
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The researchers were surprised to find that there was not an association between sleep duration and accelerated brain aging, Cavaillès noted.
“Sleep duration in midlife may be influenced by numerous factors, such as work, stress, multitasking or menopause,” he told Fox News Digital.
Advanced brain aging is associated with cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease-related patterns. (iStock)
“Thus, it is also possible that its association with cognition is more complex during this critical period, and potentially more difficult to capture and/or less impactful.”
Overall, the study results suggest that the importance of sleep for brain health in midlife would be more closely tied to quality rather than quantity in midlife, the researcher added.
‘Integral relationship’
Dr. Jocelyn Y. Cheng, a New Jersey neurologist and spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, was not involved in the study but weighed in on the findings.
“This study provides further support for the integral relationship between sleep and brain health,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“The findings highlight particular aspects of poor sleep — specifically early morning awakening and persistent difficulty with initiating sleep, which were associated with greater estimated age-related brain atrophy as measured by MRI.”
Sleep plays a role in clearing out beta-amyloid, the protein that accumulates in the brains of people who develop Alzheimer’s disease, Cheng noted.
Sleep plays a role in clearing out beta-amyloid, the protein that accumulates in the brains of people who develop Alzheimer’s disease. (REUTERS/Denis Balibouse)
When someone gets poor sleep, that clearance ability is reduced.
“Being readily identifiable, the onset of these symptoms may represent a key timepoint during which intervention could mitigate the development of disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease later in life,” Cheng added.
Potential limitations
The study did have some limitations, including the fact that it relied on people reporting their own sleep habits, which may not always be accurate, according to Cavaillès.
“Also, because this was an observational study, we can’t say for certain that poor sleep directly causes brain aging — only that there’s a strong connection between the two,” he added.
“This study provides further support for the integral relationship between sleep and brain health.”
Cheng agreed that causation cannot be determined from the study, and also noted that it did not investigate whether brain atrophy had an impact on cognition.
Despite these limitations, she said, “There are plausible roles that poor sleep may play in brain health.”
Improving sleep quality
Based on the findings, people can improve their quality of rest by adopting several good sleep hygiene practices, Cavaillès said.
“They can start by maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, going to bed and waking up at the same time every day,” he said.
Regular exercise can help improve sleep quality, experts agree. (iStock)
“Creating an ideal sleep environment — keeping the bedroom dark, quiet and at a cool temperature — also helps.”
Regular exercise and exposure to natural sunlight can also improve sleep quality.
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Cavaillès also suggests avoiding screens and blue light, as well as stimulants like caffeine and alcohol.
“Incorporating relaxation techniques before bed, such as deep breathing or meditation, can also help prepare the body for sleep,” the researcher added.
Healthy sleep is essential for a healthy brain, experts agree. “If someone is facing persistent problems with sleep quality or insomnia symptoms, they should undergo further evaluation,” a doctor advised. (iStock)
Cheng echoed that healthy sleep is essential for a healthy brain, hence the importance of maintaining good sleep habits.
“If someone is facing persistent problems with sleep quality or insomnia symptoms, they should undergo further evaluation,” she said.
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“This may be indicative of an underlying disorder, such as obstructive sleep apnea, and intervention may improve both quality of life and overall health.”
The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging.
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A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.
The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.
The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.
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After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.
The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.
The therapy was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone after a five-year follow-up. (iStock)
The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”
Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.
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According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile.
The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.
The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.
Patients with late-stage melanoma have a “significant risk” of cancer recurrence, according to an expert. (iStock)
In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”
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“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.
Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”
Researchers confirmed that the combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. (iStock)
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.
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The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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