Study Finds Link Between Alzheimer's and Circadian Clock (theguardian.com) 27
People who develop Alzheimer's disease can experience sleep disturbances years before the condition takes hold, but whether one causes the other, or something more complex is afoot, has always proved hard for scientists to determine. From a report: Now, researchers in the US have shed light on the mystery, in work that raises hopes for new therapies, and how "good sleep hygiene" could help to tackle the disease and its symptoms. The findings show that humans' 24-hour circadian clock controls the brain's ability to mop up wayward proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease. If the scientists are right, the work would explain, at least in part, how disruption to circadian rhythms and sleep disturbances might feed into the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease, and how preventing such disruption might stave off the condition.
"Circadian disruption is correlated with Alzheimer's diagnosis and it has been suggested that sleep disruptions could be an early warning sign of Alzheimer's disease," said Dr Jennifer Hurley, who led the research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in New York. Alzheimer's takes hold when connections are lost between nerve cells in the brain. The disease is progressive and linked to abnormal plaques and tangles of proteins that steadily build up in the brain. The disease is the most common cause of dementia and affects more than half a million people in the UK, a figure that is set to rise. To keep the brain healthy, immune cells called microglia seek out and destroy troublesome proteins that threaten to accumulate in the brain. One type of protein targeted by the cells is called amyloid beta, a hallmark of Alzheimer's.
"Circadian disruption is correlated with Alzheimer's diagnosis and it has been suggested that sleep disruptions could be an early warning sign of Alzheimer's disease," said Dr Jennifer Hurley, who led the research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in New York. Alzheimer's takes hold when connections are lost between nerve cells in the brain. The disease is progressive and linked to abnormal plaques and tangles of proteins that steadily build up in the brain. The disease is the most common cause of dementia and affects more than half a million people in the UK, a figure that is set to rise. To keep the brain healthy, immune cells called microglia seek out and destroy troublesome proteins that threaten to accumulate in the brain. One type of protein targeted by the cells is called amyloid beta, a hallmark of Alzheimer's.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
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Not just missing sleep, but not getting sleep according to your circadian rhythm. They also point out that they aren't sure if this is a cause or an effect of Alzheimer onset. Its possible increased sleep problems could be an indicator of an underlying problem that leads to alzheimer's.
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Miserably.
Aducanumab, the $56k/year drug approved by the FDA last year, [science.org] targets these proteins, and it was such a poor decision that three members of the FDA advisory committee resigned. [nytimes.com] Medicare has since severel
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Greaaaaat (Score:4, Funny)
Reading articles like this is rather upsetting, and will likely keep me up at night for a few weeks.
What IS sleep hygiene? (Score:2)
Aside from the fact that the slashdot article is merely a copy & paste from most of the original source, the original source doesn't say what "good sleep hygiene" is. I have a suspicion that some bozo is going to spout off about personal habits when the term most likely refers to the body being allowed to do what it's supposed to do.
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Re:What IS sleep hygiene? (Score:4, Informative)
For the last few years I have been struggling with getting quality sleep (partly because of mild apnea) up to the point that I needed a nap-break at 10 in the morning.
Having good sleep hygiene really helps (although, alas, in my case not consistently).
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Get yourself a CPAP machine. A bit of a hassle but you will have zero trouble breathing and sleep way better. Even your dreams will be more pleasant.
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You have to be able to tolerate wearing the mask. I have the most minimum one I could get and it is still bothersome at times even after more than a year. You can't sleep on your stomach ever, and even on your side is a problem. Many times I have woke up and my mouth is dry as leather from air escaping.
But wow, if you can get past that the sleep quality is amazing. Wake up feeling refreshed. Way less bad dreams. I use mine every night.
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Thanks for the advice, much appreciated :-)
I actually have been using one for slightly under two years now. It really helps in the majority of nights, but for me it is off and on. In general I can now work a full day and stay alert.
I just have been having mostly bad nights for about three weeks though and it is beginning to take it's toll. Like experiencing all the symptoms mentioned in TFA.
Later this month I will go to hospital to get a mandibulair advancement device (MAD), a sort of brace that helps keep
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Do you trust the word of the CDC? https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/abou... [cdc.gov]
Re:What IS sleep hygiene? (Score:5, Interesting)
Good sleep hygiene is about changing your behavior to try to improve sleep. It's all the drug free ways they want you to try before getting medication from a doctor (which many doctors won't provide, or insurance pay for nightly, anyway).
Avoiding blue light is one common suggestion. When blue light hits our eye it turns melatonin (a sleep inducing hormone) into serotonin.
Another is keeping the same bed and wake times all the time (not sleeping in or staying up on the weekend). I assume to not be shifting your circadian rhythm set point around.
Adjusting your bedroom temperature to be lower than usual (68-72F if I remember correctly). Getting colder seems to trigger the desire to go to, and stay asleep.
I agree it was grasping at straws to tell the reader something to do from research that's too early to say is causal.
I am so... (Score:4, Interesting)
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Alzheimer's runs in my family too so I did a couple of consultations about it to see what I could do, if anything. Good sleep was immediately recommended. I wore a sleep monitor for a couple of nights, had signs of some apnea. This is said to cause small amounts of brain damage that accumulates over the years.
I got a CPAP machine and now sleep way better.
We need noise pollution controls (Score:2)
Limited example says yes (Score:5, Interesting)
For my study of one, I can offer additional evidence that not getting good sleep in mid-life can lead to Alzheimer's. It's been evident for the past few years my mother's memory is not what it used to be. I had large suspicions for some time prior to the current evidence, but my dad is only now realizing it.
For example, my dad bought some sausage links from a local meat place we've gone to for decades (since I was young). When I stopped by he pulled it out of the fridge and showed me what we'll be having on Sunday while watching the Super Bowl. I placed it on the kitchen table and a few moments later, when he and I were wrapping up the conversation, my mom went to the table and asked if this (the meat) was mine.
Clearly he pulled it out in front of her as we talked about it and he obviously showed her what he bought when he came home, but in that moment she didn't know who bought the meat.
As for this study, I remember on multiple occasions my mom telling me over the years she didn't sleep well at night. She even mentioned some times she'd go watch the shopping channel in the middle of the night just to see what was on (no, she doesn't buy that junk. She just likes to see what they're offering). And this went on for years.
So yes, from my study of one, I can confirm there is a good correlation between not getting good sleep in your mid-life and development of Alzheimer's later in life.
As an additional side note, her mother did have Alzheimer's.
microglia (Score:2)
Cause ? (Score:2)
Hazard pay for work travel? (Score:2)
My company doesn't think twice about sending me anywhere in the world at the drop of a hat (granted COVID slowed it down, but didn't stop it...I just got back from a transatlantic trip actually). Jet-lag when traveling to Europe or Asia means 3
Chrono-Americans are rummaging through the trash (Score:2)
...to find the melatonin they threw away in response to last week's scary article.
Graveyard shifts (Score:2)
It seems to me that were it causative, you'd observer very substantial enrichment of cases in the group of people that have worked the graveyard shift habitually, and perhaps even more so those that vacillate between graveyard shifts and standard shifts in their work.
Yet, Daylight Saving Slithers Onward (Score:2)
Die Already!!!
Rumination (Score:2)
I think that rumination is a big part of sleep disruption, it has been for me and many people I know.
I think that there is ground to link rumination to Alzheimer’s and since rumination is usually caused by psychological abuse, is it possible that Alzheimer’s is linked to being psychological abused?
I have been using covid isolation to eject toxic people from my life, so that what ever life looks like after covid for me, it won't include toxic people. They're not worth the hassle.
That's becau
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Avoid cancer, get something worse (Score:1)