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Summary Sleep disorder could be an early warning sign of Alzheimer's disease, suggest scientists.
Working on a mouse model, researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found that when the first signs of Alzheimers plaques appear in the brain, the normal sleep-wake cycle is significantly disrupted.If sleep abnormalities begin this early in the course of human Alzheimers disease, those changes could provide us with an easily detectable sign of pathology, said senior study author David M. Holtzman, professor and head of neurology at Washington, the journal Science Translational Medicine reported.As we start to treat Alzheimers patients before the onset of dementia, the presence or absence of sleep problems may be a rapid indicator of whether the new treatments are succeeding, added Holtzman.Holtzmans lab was among the first to link sleep problems and Alzheimers through studies of sleep in mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimers plaques as they age, according to a university statement.
