A series of recent clinical studies suggest that among patients who haven't yet developed Alzheimer's disease, worsening sleep quality and sleep duration are associated with a greater amount of amyloid-beta building up in the brain, and while it's important to point out that these studies don't prove that lack of sleep or poor sleep cause Alzheimer's disease, they do suggest that the failure of the brain to keep its house clean by clearing away waste like amyloid-beta may contribute to the development of conditions like Alzheimer's.
Niz novih kliničkih studija navodi da kod pacijenata koji još nisu razvili Alzheimerovu bolest, pogoršanje u kvaliteti sna i  njegovoj dužini povezani su s većom količinom nakupina amyloid-bete u mozgu, i iako je važno napomenuti da ove studije ne dokazuju da manjak sna ili loš san uzrokuju Alzheimerovu bolest, one sugeriraju da nemogućnost mozga da održi svoj životni prostor čistim, čisteći ga od otpada poput amyloid-bete, može doprinijeti razvitku poremećaja poput Alzheimera.