Two doses of an FDA-approved sleeping pill reduced levels of Alzheimer's proteins in a small study of healthy volunteers.

Alzheimer's disease involves changes to the brain that disrupt sleep, and poor sleep accelerates harmful changes to the brain.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a possible way to help break that cycle.

The study has shown that people who took a sleeping pill before bed experienced a drop in the levels of key Alzheimer's proteins which is a good sign, since higher levels of such proteins tracks with worsening disease.

The study, which involved a sleeping aid known as suvorexant that is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration for insomnia, hints at the potential of sleep medications to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease, although much more work is needed to confirm the viability of such an approach.