In a new study, researchers suggest that a better understanding of the link between poor sleep and Alzheimer’s disease may help develop new diagnosis and treatment.
The team examined the pathophysiological factors that connect the sleep problem and the neurodegenerative disease.
The research was conducted by researchers from Harvard Medical School and Boston University School of Medicine.
Previous research has shown that sleep problems are linked to cognitive impairment in older people, which is a common sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
For example, researchers have found that older people who have fragmented sleep at night have a higher risk of Alzheimer’s.
They suggest that fragmented sleep shows the body clock in these people is disrupted, which is linked to Alzheimer’s.
Another study showed that deep sleep is important for the prevention of Alzheimer’s and that shallow sleep may be linked to higher Alzheimers’ risk.
This is because, during deep sleep, the brain’s cleaning system can work better to clean the waste in the brain, for example, the amyloid beta, and this may protect people from Alzheimer’s.
When the deep sleep phase is disrupted, the amyloid beta levels in the brain can rise as much as 30%.
Amyloid beta is involved with learning and the ability of the brain to change and adapt, and tau helps control normal signaling between neuronal cells.
Patients with Alzheimer’s disease have a buildup of amyloid beta in the brain.
Other studies were done in healthy animals and humans have found higher levels of amyloid beta after sleep deprivation.
These findings suggest that sleep helps the body eliminate excess amyloid beta before too much accumulates in the brain.
Patients with Alzheimer’s disease also have tau tangles in the brain.
Tau is a protein in the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. It is a marker of injury to the nerve cells.
One night of sleep loss can increase tau levels by as much as 50% in cerebrospinal fluid.
Based on the above findings, the researchers suggest that increased levels of amyloid beta and tau and reduced elimination of these proteins is the main factor of Alzheimer’s disease.
However, it is still unclear which comes first.
It is possible that sleep disruption causes Alzheimer’s disease symptoms, but it is also possible that sleep disruption is caused by Alzheimer’s disease development.
Future work needs to clarify the relationship between sleep and Alzheimer’s disease. It may help provide helpful therapeutic benefits in preventing, diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s disease.
The authors of the study are Shen Ning and Mehdi Jorfi.
The study is published in the Journal of Neurophysiology.
Copyright © 2019 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
