What is dementia?
Dementia is set to afftect more than 150 million people by 2050.
With no cure in sight, scientists continue to focus on uncovering ways how to minimise the risk of this happening and improve treatment outcomes.
Fortunately, a new study, published in journal Cell Metabolism, has identified an eating plan that could improve memory in those with the mind-robbing condition.
One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease is disruption to the body’s internal biological clock that regulates many of our physiological processes, known as circadian rhythm.
Nearly 80 percent of people with the brain condition experience these issues, including difficulty sleeping and worsening cognitive function at night.
READ MORE Early signs of dementia can appear in your eyes before memory problems
However, there are currently no existing treatments for Alzheimer’s that target this aspect of the disease.
With this in mind, the research team from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine looked at how time-restricted feeding, which is a type of intermittent fasting focused on creating a daily eating window without limiting what you consume, affected circadian disruptions in mice models.
Interestingly, the animals that followed this eating regimen showed improvements in memory and reduction in the accumulation of amyloid proteins in the brain.
Amyloid deposits are one of the most well-known features of Alzheimer’s disease.
Senior study author Paula Desplats said: “For many years, we assumed that the circadian disruptions seen in people with Alzheimer’s are a result of neurodegeneration, but we’re now learning it may be the other way around — circadian disruption may be one of the main drivers of Alzheimer’s pathology.
“This makes circadian disruptions a promising target for new Alzheimer’s treatments, and our findings provide the proof-of-concept for an easy and accessible way to correct these disruptions.”
Patients with the mind-robbing condition experience a variety of disruptions to their circadian rhythms, including changes to their sleep/wake cycle, increased cognitive impairment and confusion in the evenings, and difficulty falling and staying asleep.
“Circadian disruptions in Alzheimer’s are the leading cause of nursing home placement,” said Desplats.
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“Anything we can do to help patients restore their circadian rhythm will make a huge difference in how we manage Alzheimer’s in the clinic and how caregivers help patients manage the disease at home.”
The mice in the study were only allowed to eat within a six-hour window each day, which would be the equivalent of about 14 hours of fasting for humans, the researchers explained.
This eating plan saw mice experiencing better memory, less hyperactivity at night, a more regular sleep schedule and fewer disruptions during sleep.
The animal models also performed better on cognitive assessments, demonstrating that the time-restricted feeding schedule was able to help mitigate the behavioural symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
Furthermore, the research team also observed improvements in the mice on a molecular level, including gene expression and reduction in the amount of amyloid protein that accumulated in the brain.
Based on these findings, the researchers are now hopeful that this lifestyle change could be easily translatable to the clinic.
Desplats said: “Time-restricted feeding is a strategy that people can easily and immediately integrate into their lives.
“If we can reproduce our results in humans, this approach could be a simple way to dramatically improve the lives of people living with Alzheimer’s and those who care for them.”
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