"A Connection Between Sleep and Alzheimer's?" -10

"A Connection Between Sleep and Alzheimer's?"
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2009/924/3

A new study has been found between the connection of sleep, or lack of sleep, and Alzheimer’s disease. For both humans and mice, there is a peptide that rises while the human, or mouse, is awake, and falls while they sleep. Scientists reported on the mice that were sleep-deprived had a build up of the peptide, a sort of plaque. This build of plaque from the peptide is the same type of build up found in the patients with Alzheimer’s. They believe that a patient who now has Alzheimer’s had a build up from the very beginning, before any symptoms began. To experiment this peptide and Alzheimer’s disease, the scientists took cerebrospinal fluid from mice, and for three weeks, they kept the mouse awake for 20 hours a day to see if their peptide level had risen. After the three weeks, the peptide level had risen to higher plaque levels compared to the other well-rested mice. They also found a hormone that promotes wakefulness, which reduced plaque formation. The findings could let people know that not getting enough sleep could lead to build up of the peptide plaque, making them more susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease. They also are trying to see if anything can be done with the hormone that reduces the plaque. There is yet a cure or any serious type of treatment for Alzheimer’s, but it is still a new piece of information that could be helpful.