How Heat Can Affect the Development of Amyloid Plaques in Alzheimer’s Disease

1. How Heat Can Affect the Development of Amyloid Plaques in Alzheimer’s Disease research proposal by Alexander J. Colón

2. 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.

5. 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.

6. Reasons:

7. 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.

8. 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 107.6 °F (42 °C).” www.nlm.nih.gov

9. 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.

13. Method of Investigation: • Interviews • Patient History • Polls

14. Method of Investigation: • MRI Patient Brains • Compare Results

15. References: • R. Brookmeyer, E. Johnson, H.M. Arrighiet 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. Havlinet al. Aggregation and disaggregation of senile plaques in Alzheimer disease ProcNatlAcadSci USA, 94 (1997), pp. 7612–7616