Nina Benvenuto had to watch her grandmother navigate Alzheimer's disease and says it was one of the hardest things she ever had to do.

“You're grieving this person who's very much still alive, but they're not the same person they were. They're not the person you used to know. Nobody else should have to deal with this disease. Lose your memories, lose a sense of who you are," said Benvenuto, an Alzheimer's Association volunteer.

Since Alzheimer's runs in her family, Benvenuto says she’s afraid of being diagnosed with it herself. She tries to maintain healthy brain habits.

“I try to keep my mind active, so I read all the time. I like to do like word puzzles," Benvenuto said. "I try to be physically active. You know, I love taking walks, I love going hiking, I try to eat healthy. I try to get 8 hours of sleep every night."

The Alzheimer’s Association says for many years, disrupted sleep as a risk factor for Alzheimer's has been discussed. But a new study authored by Gawon Cho, at the Yale School of Medicine, shows deficits in sleep seem to shrink parts of the brain known to be early indicators of cognitive deterioration and Alzheimer’s disease.

“What the study showed was that if you have disruptions in your deep sleep, which is the sleep that you generally have first and earliest in your nighttime routine and your sleep routine, then your body, your brain fails to eliminate the toxins, because that is the role of your deep sleep," said Alzheimer's Association of New York Executive Director Elizabeth Smith-Boivin. "Disruptions a little bit later in your sleep cycle to the REM sleep then fails to properly clear emotions and stored memory."

While sleep is just one factor, Benvenuto says healthy brain habits are some of the best preventative measures you can take.