title: Alzheimer's disease: aging, insomnia and epigenetics.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. Severe memory loss, confusion, and impaired cognitive abilities characterize AD. It was only a century after Alzheimer's discovery that scientists were able to shed light on the mystery of its cause, but AD has also become a globally important health issue and the treatment of AD is a challenge for modern medicine. At present, there are five drugs approved in the United States for the treatment of AD, namely, donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine, and tacrine (which are all cholinesterase inhibitors); and memantine (which is a glutamate receptor antagonist). However, these drugs show only modest effects on AD patients. Thus, new investigations are necessary for pharmacological development in AD. This brief review focuses on new studies that demonstrate the link between epigenetics and AD, and explores the possibility that insomnia may be one factor that effects AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioscience Technology, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung Li, Taipei, Taichung, Taiwan. tywu@cycu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Tzong Yuan
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chih-Ping
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Tzyy-Rong
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Jinn
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D057890:Epigenomics; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000378:metabolism; D000068797:Orexins; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009479:Neuropeptides; D000068797:Orexins