Look AHEAD Sleep Study
Look AHEAD was a clinical trial designed to determine whether a lifestyle intervention to achieve weight loss through caloric restriction and increased physical activity decreased CVD morbidity and mortality among adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and overweight or obesity. The trial ended in 2012; however, observation continued at the sites through 2020.
Look AHEAD Aging was recently launched to continue assessing important health-related outcomes in the cohort via telephone from a Wake Forest call center. In tandem with Look AHEAD Aging, an ancillary study, Look AHEAD Sleep, was funded to evaluate cognitive function and dementia risk associated with two sleep-related risk factors that are closely tied to T2D and overweight/obesity: 1) Sleep disordered breathing (SDB), and 2) Circadian-rest-activity-rhythms (CRARs). The study will quantify SDB and CRARs through in-home sleep testing and wrist actigraphy combined with a telephone cognitive assessment to evaluate links of SDB and altered CRARs with cognitive impairment and dementia. Participants will complete a single night of in-home assessment with the WatchPAT (photo), and seven consecutive 24-hour periods of CRAR assessment with the ActiGraph, along with the completion of a Sleep Diary. The study will also examine the associations between SDB, CRARs, and blood-based biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease. Results of Look AHEAD Sleep will advance our understanding of how sleep affects brain health among older adults with T2D and overweight/obesity, and whether a lifestyle intervention produces durable effects on sleep health that translate into sustained brain health in this at-risk population. Collaborators include: Wake Forest (Hayden, MPI), Johns Hopkins (Spira, MPI), Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Bertisch, Redline, Co-Is), and Columbia University (St-Onge, Co-I).
Study Team: Anthony Alvarado, Jerry Barnes, Tara Beckner, Debbie Booth, Jo Cleveland, Margaret Culkin, Zingzhong Ding, Katie Garcia, Darrin Harris, Kate Hayden, Nancy Kessler, Matthew Perez, Debbie Pleasants, Steve Rapp, Bonnie Sachs, Cheryl Summerville, and Valerie Wilson.
