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Loss of Sleep Could be an Indicator to Onset of Alzheimer's Disease

by Raja Nandhini on Mar 13 2013 4:33 AM

Loss of Sleep Could be an Indicator to Onset of Alzheimer
Sleep loss might be an early warning of Alzheimer’s disease according to a recent research at Washington University School of Medicine.
Sleep is affected in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The findings of the latest research suggest that sleep problems could as well be markers for the initiation of the disease.

Previous experiments on mice have revealed that a link exists between sleep loss and beta amyloid plaques in the brain, which is a significant marker for the disease.

The study involved healthy 145 participants aged between 45 and 75 years who showed no signs of Alzheimer’s disease when enrolled.

Scientists analyzed the spinal fluids of the participants and the samples 32 of them were found to have molecular markers for preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.

The sleep cycles of the volunteers were also recorded for two weeks and it was found that those without markers of the disease slept well when compared to those with the markers.

Hence, the authors opine that loss of sleep could be used as an indicator to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in elderly people.

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Source-Medindia


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