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Jakarta – Alzheimer's currently affects about one in nine American adults over the age of 65, and the disorder is expected to become more common in the future.
While there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, scientists think that they may have found a way to address one aspect of the disease.
In a new study, a team from the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) were able to reconfigure animal circadian rhythms in mouse models of Alzheimer's, through a program of intermittent fasting.
Circadian rhythm disruption is one of the ways Alzheimer's disease disrupts the body's biological processes. People with the disease experience altered sleep/wake cycles, often experience increased cognitive impairment and confusion at night, and have difficulty falling and staying asleep.
Ilustrasi alzheimer/lansia
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Current Alzheimer's treatments do not target this aspect of the disease, but there may be other ways to alleviate this problem.
When the researchers put mice on a time-restricted eating schedule, the animals showed a marked improvement in memory function. Meanwhile, amyloid protein - which has long been associated with Alzheimer's – was less likely to accumulate in the brains of the fasted mice.
Mice on a meal schedule had more regular sleep patterns, were less hyperactive at night, and experienced fewer sleep disturbances than mice left to eat at any time.
"For years, we assumed that the circadian disruptions seen in people with Alzheimer's were the result of neurodegeneration. But now we know that it may be the other way around – circadian disruption may be one of the main drivers of Alzheimer's pathology," says neuroscientist Paula Desplats from UC San Diego.
According to her, this makes circadian disruption a promising target for new Alzheimer's treatments and the findings of this study provide proof of concept on an easy and accessible way to correct the disorder.
The mice were only allowed to eat for six hours each day. In humans, this is equivalent to fasting for 14 hours in each 24-hour cycle – and this appears to help reset the natural circadian rhythm that has been disrupted by Alzheimer's disease.
Changes were also seen down to the molecular level, with some genes associated with disease and inflammation in the brain showing differences in how they were expressed in the fasted Alzheimer's mice.
Implementing a pattern of intermittent fasting is something that can be done relatively easily and quickly – as treatment progresses, it's fairly straightforward.
If similar results are found in human trials, this is another promising option to explore in the fight against devastating forms of dementia.
"Anything we can do to help patients restore their circadian rhythms will make a big difference in how we treat Alzheimer's in the clinic and how caregivers help patients manage the disease at home," he said.
