As a college student and a member of this demanding society, many would agree that sleep becomes a luxury and expendable one's life. Many sacrifice sleep with intentions to benefit themselves. For example, work, assignments, exams may come in the way of getting full night's of sleep in order to make a deadline or perform well. However, it is very important to be aware of other implications resulting from depriving yourself of sleep. Even though it may seem necessary to lose sleep over something urgent and effective, in reality it is detrimental.
According to recent studies, losing sleep is a burden on one's health and may lead to various afflictions. Therefore, awareness and adjustments to one's lifestyle can prevent illness. For instance, Alzheimer's disease(AD), is a prominent illness found to be notably consequential. A presentation given by Subhojit Roy, in reference to his research article, The Physical Approximation of APP and BACE-1: A Key Event in Alzheimer’s Disease Pathogenesis, depicting the neuropathological hallmark of AD. This study brought attention to the amyloidogenic pathway responsible for producing amyloid-beta. This pathway is identified as a hallmark of AD due to its underlying role in generating intracellular activity leading to accumulation of amyloid-beta, plaque-building peptides, indicative of AD. Uncovering information about the fundamental components in the amyloidogenic pathway, helped us get one step closer in deriving the mechanism behind AD. Therefore, Roy emphasized the importance of any discovery related to trafficking pathways containing the fundamental components, amyloid precursor protein(APP) and BACE-1, composing the amyloidogenic pathway. Congruent with this data, subsequent studies reinforced the importance of the pathways role in accumulating amyloid beta peptides attributing AD.
Significantly, these studies revealed sleep deprivation as a preliminary factor instigating the production of excessive amyloid-beta peptides. Just this month, an article was released, titled, Acute sleep deprivation impacts β-amyloid burden in brain regions that have been implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, providing supporting evidence. This research group utilized positron emission tomography to document the drastic difference within brains after just one night of sleep deprivation. Results indicated a dramatic increase in Aβ burden located in the thalamus and right side of the hippocampus. Impairment to these specific regions have been designated in patients with AD and therefore emphasize the impact of just one day without sleep. Another research group investigated the outcomes of obstructive sleep apnea, concluding, “biomarkers for amyloid beta, the plaque-building peptides associated with Alzheimer's disease, increase over time in elderly adults with OSA in proportion to OSA severity”. Thus, individuals with more apneas per hour had greater accumulation of brain amyloid over time” (NIH/National). This indicates a direct relationship between increased sleep deprivation and high concentrations of amyloids responsible for AD. In summary this article stated, "Results from this study, and the growing literature suggesting that OSA, cognitive decline and AD are related, may mean that age tips the known consequences of OSA from sleepiness, cardiovascular, and metabolic dysfunction to brain impairment” confirming that there truly is a link tying AD to sleep deprivation(NIH/National). Continuous research is being conducted for the sake of comprehending and treating AD. In respect to this information, recognition of the likeliness in acquiring AD is held accountable. Accordingly, the bottom line is, sleep is indispensable and should never be neglected.
Works Cited
American Thoracic Society. "Sleep Apnea may increase risk of developing Alzheimer's disease." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 November 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171110084325.htm>
NIH/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. "Lack of sleep may be linked to risk factor for Alzheimer's disease: Preliminary study shows increased levels of beta-amyloid." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 April 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180413155301.htm>.
Sun, Jichao, and Subhojit Roy. “The Physical Approximation of APP and BACE‐1: A Key Event in Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis.” Developmental Neurobiology, Wiley-Blackwell, 13 Nov. 2017, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dneu.22556/abstract.
No comments:
Post a Comment