2023-08-26 04:00:03
Alzheimer’s disease affects nearly 1 million people in France; more than 17% of people over 75 would be affected. Its symptoms often lead to drug treatment. Researchers from the University of California (The University of California is an American university, founded in 1868, of which…) in San Diego have just demonstrated that the simple practice of intermittent fasting could be enough to reduce a good number (The notion of number in linguistics is dealt with in the article “Number…) of its symptoms. Among the symptoms known in this disease, one can in particular quote the loss of memory (In a general way, the memory is the storage of information. It is also the memory…) or the changes of personality. But the main symptom (A symptom represents one of the subjective manifestations of a disease or a process…) concerns the disruption of the circadian rhythm, notably impacting the sleep/wake cycle. It is for this reason that the majority of people affected by this disease experience sleep disorders (Sleep is a natural recurring state of loss of consciousness (but without loss of…). A recent study carried out on mice (The term mouse is an ambiguous vernacular name that can designate, for French speakers, before…), published on August 21 in the journal Cell, demonstrates that applying a diet (For cultural diets practiced by Man see practice…) in the form of intermittent fasting could reduce these disturbances.
To observe these effects, the researchers forced a group of mice to eat according to a restricted schedule: they were allowed access to food without any quantity limit, but for a period limited to 6 hours only each day (The day or the day is the interval between sunrise and sunset; it is…). If we transpose this duration to man (A man is an adult male individual of the species called modern man (Homo…)), this is equivalent to about 14 hours of fasting per day. In comparison, another group of mice had access to food at all hours (The hour is a unit of measurement:).
Scientists found that mice that performed intermittent fasting had a regular, undisturbed sleep cycle and had better memory. They also obtained better results in the cognitive tests to which they were submitted. The behavioral symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease were thus reduced.
In addition, the researchers were able to observe that several genes associated with neuro-inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease were expressed differently in mice fed according to a restricted schedule. They also observed that the amount of amyloid proteins present in their brains was reduced, even though the deposition of these proteins is one of the most well-known characteristics of the disease.
In summary, if for a long time we could think that the neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer’s disease resulted in circadian disturbances, it is ultimately possible that it is in fact exactly the opposite! Let’s hope that the result of this study can be transposed to humans, and lead researchers to develop new methods to mitigate the effects of this disease.
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