Bad sleep may predict Alzheimer's study

Problems of sleeping may be an early sign of Alzheimer's if a study in mice also applies to people, say researchers Thursday. Clumps of protein, called plaques, in the brain are thought to be a key component of the illness. A study, published in the journal "Science Translational Medicine", showed that when plaques first developed, the mice started having disrupted sleep. Alzheimer's Research UK, a charity, argued that if the link was proven it could become a useful tool for doctors. The hunt for early hints that someone is developing Alzheimer's is thought to be crucial for treating the disease. People do not show problems with their memory or clarity of thought until very late on in the disease. At this point, parts of the brain will have been destroyed, meaning treatment will be very difficult or maybe even impossible. It is why researchers want to start early, years before the first symptoms. Experiments at Washington University showed that nocturnal mice slept for 40 minutes during every hour of daylight, the study highlighted by the BBC said. One of the researchers, Prof David Holtzman, said: "If sleep abnormalities begin this early in the course of human Alzheimer's disease, those changes could provide us with an easily detectable sign of the disease." Alzheimer's Research UK, called for more studies in people to see if there was a link between sleeping patterns and Alzheimer's.