The Prospect of Treating Alzheimer Disease through Sleep

Alzheimer's disease is caused by the deposition of amyloid and Tau proteins. These two proteins are present in normal brain cells, but in Alzheimer's disease, they accumulate in large quantities, affecting how brain cells function normally. The result is that brain cells can't communicate properly, leading to memory loss. The current treatment for Alzheimer's disease is mostly controlled by drugs. The three main drugs are Donepezil, Rivastigmine, and Galantamine, Reminyl. However, it has limited side effects and usually manifests as gastrointestinal distress. One of the functions of sleep is to accelerate the removal of amyloid in the brain, which can effectively improve the accumulation of amyloid and Tau proteins.