People stricken by Alzheimer's
Disease frequently have trouble sleeping at night — a phenomenon dementia specialists sometimes refer to as "sundowning." Now researchers have determined chronic sleep problems may in fact trigger Alzheimer's or, at the very least, be a key symptom of the early stages of the disease.
Chronic sleep problems have been linked to a number of health problems, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, depression, obesity, and even pain disorders. New research, from Temple University in Philadelphia, suggests Alzheimer's may soon be added to that list.
The pre-clinical study, published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, was an outgrowth of research that has shown individuals who report chronic sleep problems — resulting from work, stress, insomnia, or other factors — often develop Alzheimer's disease.
"The big biological question that we tried to address in this study is whether sleep disturbance is a risk factor to develop Alzheimer's or is it something that manifests with the disease?" said lead researcher Domenico Praticò, a professor of pharmacology and microbiology/immunology in the university's School of Medicine.
Praticò and his team studied transgenic Alzheimer's mice — those with DNA from humans — to determine the impacts of sleep deprivation. Over time, they found memory tests in the mice showed those with reduced sleep time "demonstrated significant impairment in the working and retention memory, as well as their learning ability," he said.
Praticò said sleep loss may contribute to changes in the brain that can disrupt the communication between brain cells and their ability to transport nutrients or chemicals, or transmit electrical signals from cell to cell.
Since the sleep-deprived mice developed these hallmark changes seen in Alzheimer's patients' brains earlier than the other mice, the researchers suggested sleep disturbances may act as a trigger, accelerating these pathological processes and damaging the connections between brain cells.
"We conclude from this study that chronic sleep disturbance is an environmental risk factor for Alzheimer's disease," Praticò said. "But the good news is that sleep disturbances can be easily treated, which would hopefully reduce the Alzheimer's risk."
He said correcting sleep disorders could be a "viable therapeutic strategy" to prevent or slow progression of Alzheimer's disease in people at risk.
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