Can Poor Sleep Indicate Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease?

Sleep problems could lead to an amyloid buildup in the brain. The biological markers for Alzheimer's disease were found in the spinal fluid of people who had a poor sleep.

Lack of sleep may indicate the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life, according to a study published in Neurology. The research team found a link between sleep disturbances and biological markers for Alzheimer's disease in the spinal fluid. //

"Previous evidence has shown that sleep may influence the development or progression of Alzheimer's disease in various ways," said study author Barbara B. Bendlin, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "For example, disrupted sleep or lack of sleep may lead to amyloid plaque buildup because the brain's clearance system kicks into action during sleep. Our study looked not only for amyloid but for other biological markers in the spinal fluid as well."

Alzheimer’s disease - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Stages, Types, Prevention, Prognosis & Treatment
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting memory and thinking and making the person increasingly dependent on others.

‘Lack of sleep, poor sleep quality and daytime sleepiness could be an early warning sign for Alzheimer’s disease.’

Amyloid is a protein that can fold and form into plaques. Tau is a protein that forms into tangles. These plaques and tangles are found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease.

For the study, researchers recruited 101 people with an average age of 63 who had normal thinking and memory skills but who were considered at risk of developing Alzheimer's, either having a parent with the disease or being a carrier of a gene that increases the risk for Alzheimer's disease called apolipoprotein E or APOE. Participants were surveyed about sleep quality. They also provided spinal fluid samples that were tested for biological markers of Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers found that people who reported worse sleep quality, more sleep problems and daytime sleepiness had more biological markers for Alzheimer's disease in their spinal fluid than people who did not have sleep problems. Those biological markers included signs of amyloid, tau and brain cell damage and inflammation.

Antibodies That can Help Effectively Treat Alzheimer�s Disease Identified
A new study reports on the development of antibody treatments that can prevent the accumulation of a toxic protein, known as tau proteins, in the brain.

"It's important to identify modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer's given that estimates suggest that delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease in people by a mere five years could reduce the number of cases we see in the next 30 years by 5.7 million and save $367 billion in health care spending," said Bendlin.

While some of these relationships were strong when looking at everyone as a group, not everyone with sleep problems has abnormalities in their spinal fluid. For example, there was no link between biological markers in the spinal fluid and obstructive sleep apnea.

Biomarkers can Predict Onset of Alzheimer�s Years Before the First Symptoms Appear
Study says biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease can accurately predict the onset of the condition years before the first symptoms appear.

The results remained the same when researchers adjusted for other factors such as use of medications for sleep problems, amount of education, depression symptoms or body mass index.

"It's still unclear if sleep may affect the development of the disease or if the disease affects the quality of sleep," said Bendlin. "More research is needed to further define the relationship between sleep and these biomarkers."

Healthy Adults With APOE4 Gene At Risk Of Alzheimer�s
APOE4 is associated with a reduction in the brain's ability to dynamically modulate in response to cognitive challenge.

Bendlin added, "There are already many effective ways to improve sleep. It may be possible that early intervention for people at risk of Alzheimer's disease may prevent or delay the onset of the disease."

One limitation of the study was that sleep problems were self-reported. Monitoring of sleep patterns by health professionals may be beneficial in future studies.

Source-Eurekalert