Alzheimer's Disease is Connected to Lack of Sleep
This blog is based on the article "ALZHEIMER'S LINKED TO LACK OF ZZZZS"
A study was done to show whether or not lack of sleep makes the brains of mice release more amyloid-beta. Amyloid-beta is protein that is released from the brain in mice and the spinal fluid of people. It can become sticky and clump together, forming plaques. These plaques can lead to the death of neurons which promotes the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease.
Researchers were lead by David Holtzman in an experiment that tracked the levels of amyloid-beta in mice as they were awake and sleeping. They found that the mice's brains released more of the protein while the animals were awake and it went down substantially when the mice were sleeping. And, the longer the mice were awake, the more amyloid-beta was released.
The researchers did another experiment. They gave some mice a shot of orexin. Orexin is a protein that is naturally produced by the body to promote wakefulness. The mice injected with orexin had more amyloid-beta than the mice that were not injected with the protein. Also, by blocking the orexin the researchers found that the amount of amyloid-beta decreased.
The researchers weren't sure it is was the orexin itself that caused the increases in amyloid-beta or if it helped keep the mice awake, allowing more time for the amyloid-beta to build up.
The research team studied mice that were genetically inclined to build up plaques. Some mice were deprived of sleep while the others slept when they wanted to. The mice that were deprived of sleep were given an orexin blocker and kept awake in another way. The drug that blocks orexin also blocks plaque buildup, which is strange because, the mice with less sleep built up more plaques than the rested mice.
Studies like these in people have not shown a direct link between lack of sleep and the disease. Especially, chronic lack of sleep in in middle aged people who are genetically predisposed to have plaque buildup could hasten the arrival of the Alzheimer's disease.
Some researchers where thinking of giving the orexin blocker to people who are genetically inclined to have plaque buildup. Unfortunately, only a very small dosage could be given to the person so they wouldn't be asleep all the time. And, such a small dosage wouldn't be enough to stop plaque buildup.
So all of you reading this, GET YOUR SLEEP!
Here is our presentation:
This blog is based on the article "ALZHEIMER'S LINKED TO LACK OF ZZZZS"
A study was done to show whether or not lack of sleep makes the brains of mice release more amyloid-beta. Amyloid-beta is protein that is released from the brain in mice and the spinal fluid of people. It can become sticky and clump together, forming plaques. These plaques can lead to the death of neurons which promotes the symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease.
Researchers were lead by David Holtzman in an experiment that tracked the levels of amyloid-beta in mice as they were awake and sleeping. They found that the mice's brains released more of the protein while the animals were awake and it went down substantially when the mice were sleeping. And, the longer the mice were awake, the more amyloid-beta was released.
The researchers did another experiment. They gave some mice a shot of orexin. Orexin is a protein that is naturally produced by the body to promote wakefulness. The mice injected with orexin had more amyloid-beta than the mice that were not injected with the protein. Also, by blocking the orexin the researchers found that the amount of amyloid-beta decreased.
The researchers weren't sure it is was the orexin itself that caused the increases in amyloid-beta or if it helped keep the mice awake, allowing more time for the amyloid-beta to build up.
The research team studied mice that were genetically inclined to build up plaques. Some mice were deprived of sleep while the others slept when they wanted to. The mice that were deprived of sleep were given an orexin blocker and kept awake in another way. The drug that blocks orexin also blocks plaque buildup, which is strange because, the mice with less sleep built up more plaques than the rested mice.
Studies like these in people have not shown a direct link between lack of sleep and the disease. Especially, chronic lack of sleep in in middle aged people who are genetically predisposed to have plaque buildup could hasten the arrival of the Alzheimer's disease.
Some researchers where thinking of giving the orexin blocker to people who are genetically inclined to have plaque buildup. Unfortunately, only a very small dosage could be given to the person so they wouldn't be asleep all the time. And, such a small dosage wouldn't be enough to stop plaque buildup.
So all of you reading this, GET YOUR SLEEP!
Here is our presentation:
Ilan, Arielle, Danielle, 02
Posts
Very interesting topic, who knew that lack of sleep leads to Alzheimer's. Made me feel sleepy just thinking about it. Good article!
ReplyDeleteInteresting idea. It seems like the experiment wasn't carried out very well but a good starting point for other experiments.
ReplyDeleteWow, so what this means is that if i don't get enough sleep early on in my life, i can become more liable to get Alzheimer's later on in my life.Good article!
ReplyDeleteTo me this shows only that mice have a large plaque buildup with lack of sleep, not humans. You even state in your article that there is not "a direct link between lack of sleep and the disease". I think further testing on humans is needed to prove these results.
ReplyDeleteI find it not surprising that sleep is essential for proper health. It's the only time your body can really relax and regenerate. I think that this is not the first study that shows that insufficient sleep leads to poor health conditions. But more needs to be done to test this theory.
ReplyDeleteGood article, it's interesting that something we do every day can help to prevent Alzheimer's.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good article, but I feel that the experiment itself was poorly executed, which is in no way your fault. The experiment seems full of holes about the link between human and mice, along with a difficult practical way to test mice for Alzheimer's. But the article is written well, and considering you were the first group, job well done.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that the lack of sleep is connected directly to the Alzheimer's is very interesting. Though this experiment was not carried out well, you did very nicely with your presentation and article. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteIt is a very interesting topic that you choose. Although I think there is some parts of the presentation that are confusing. The blog is very well written. Nice Job!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like an interesting experiment but, I am sure that there is a big difference between mice and humans. The slideshow was very well put together. Very good job!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic. You did a great job putting together the article and slide show.
ReplyDeleteThere should be a link between mice and humans. If the necessary link was there, it would make the experiment much more viable.
It was very interesting and well executed. There should have been a more thorough explanation of the
ReplyDeletelink to humans or why there was not one.