Pointer‐ZZZ: Sleep ancillary to U.S. Study to Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Risk of Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundNon‐pharmacological approaches that target modifiable risks through lifestyle interventions provide the most promising evidence to delay disease. In older adults, chronic sleep disturbances marked by sleep‐disordered breathing (SDB) and sleep fragmentation are associated with impaired hippocampal functioning, increased beta‐amyloid burden, and greater Alzheimer’s risk. These and other sleep abnormalities are associated with reduced vascular health. Although some evidence suggests that diet, exercise, and cardiovascular risk reduction can improve sleep and improved sleep benefits cognition in older adults, these effects have not been confirmed in a rigorous clinical trial.MethodsThe U.S. study to PrOtect brain health through lifestyle INTErvention to Reduce risk (U.S. POINTER), funded by the Alzheimer’s Association, was launched in the Fall of 2018. It is investigating whether lifestyle interventions ‐ Self‐Guided (SG) versus a Structured (STR) lifestyle intervention ‐ influence cognitive trajectories over 2 years in 2000 older cognitively normal adults (aged 60‐79 yrs) who are at increased risk for cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The NIH‐funded POINTER‐zzz ancillary study adds in‐home objective sleep assessments for 700 participants to examine the effects of lifestyle modification and cardiovascular risk management on sleep disturbances that are linked to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease and that may improve with U.S. POINTER interventions.ResultsPOINTER‐zzz methods and study design will be presented, which will permit over 2000 objective sleep assessments to be completed over 2 years. These assessments will provide extensive oximetry and actigraphy data for analysis by lifestyle intervention group assignment. Sleep data will be examined relative to intervention effects on cognition and other parent trial and ancillary study outcomes, including MRI and amyloid/tau PET brain imaging. POINTER‐zzz leverages resources provided by the parent trial and other funded ancillary studies, and by well‐established collaborations with sleep experts.ConclusionsPOINTER‐zzz provides an unparalleled opportunity to test the effects of a multi‐domain lifestyle intervention on sleep abnormalities that are linked to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s in a well‐characterized, diverse cohort of at‐risk older adults. The study may identify an effective strategy for improving sleep that could have important consequences for reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.