How Heat Can Affect the Development of Amyloid Plaques in Alzheimer’s Disease RESEARCH PROPOSAL BY ALEXANDER J. COLÓN

Alzheimer’s Disease?  Alzheimer's disease leads to nerve cell death and tissue loss throughout the brain. Over time, the brain shrinks dramatically, affecting nearly all its functions.

Hypothesis:  Regular and consistent use of a hair dryer can cause Amyloid Plaques to form and indirectly lead to the development of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Reasons:

 A conventional hair dryer can reach temperatures between 95 degrees Fahrenheit and 131 degrees Fahrenheit.  The Human Body runs at an average temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.  It’s a temperature difference of more than 30 degrees.

How does heat affect the brain?  A fever raises body temp. and can affect the brain.  “Brain damage from a fever generally will not occur unless the fever is over °F (42 °C).”

Amyloid Plaques  Alzheimer's tissue has many fewer nerve cells and synapses than a healthy brain.  Plaques, abnormal clusters of protein fragments, build up between nerve cells.  Dead and dying nerve cells contain tangles, which are made up of twisted strands of another protein.  Scientists are not absolutely sure what causes cell death and tissue loss in the Alzheimer's brain, but plaques and tangles are prime suspects.

Method of Investigation:  Interviews  Patient History  Polls

Method of Investigation:  MRI Patient Brains  Compare Results

References:  R. Brookmeyer, E. Johnson, H.M. Arrighi et al. Forecasting the global burden of Alzheimer's disease Alzheimers Dement., 3 (2007), pp. 186–191  D.J. Selkoe Alzheimer's disease: genes, proteins, and therapy Physiol. Rev., 81 (2001), pp. 741–766  L. Cruz, S.V. Buldyrev, R. Christie, T. Gomez-Isla, S. Havlin et al. Aggregation and disaggregation of senile plaques in Alzheimer disease Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 94 (1997), pp. 7612–7616