RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE Blogger:Being Sane Takes Too Much Work

Amyloid is the plaque associated with Alzheimer's disease. It causes the neurofibrillary tangles that kill brain cells. Before there are any cognitive symptoms, plaque can form 15 to 20 years. But it's the inflammation that does all the harm. It has been found that some people who died in their 80's or 90's who were cognitively fine had tons of plaque and tangles. Their brains never reacted to the pathology with inflammation that is why these people did not get Alzheimer's disease. People with Down syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21, the smallest chromosome, in every cell. Most will develop the plaques and tangles in the brain that is associated with Alzheimer's. The only way to stop making amyloid and clear out the plaque and other debris from the brain,is to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night to cycle into the deepest stage of sleep after REM. RESEARCH from Rudolph Tanzi, Harvard University neuroscientist and one of the leading researchers on Alzheimer's disease