Sleep disturbance, norepinephrine, and D-dimer are all related in elderly caregivers of people with Alzheimer disease

Mausbach, Brent T; Ancoli-Israel, Sonia; von Känel, Roland; Patterson, Thomas L; Aschbacher, Kirstin; Mills, Paul J; Ziegler, Michael G; Dimsdale, Joel E; Calleran, Susan; Grant, Igor (2006). Sleep disturbance, norepinephrine, and D-dimer are all related in elderly caregivers of people with Alzheimer disease. Sleep, 29(10), pp. 1347-52. Darien, Ill.: American Academy of Sleep Medicine

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STUDY OBJECTIVE: Caregiving for a relative with Alzheimer disease has been associated with sympathoadrenal medullary arousal and morbidity and mortality. In this study, we examined if sleep disturbance of elderly caregivers was associated with physiologic markers of cardiovascular risk, including plasma norepinephrine, epinephrine, and the hemostasis marker D-dimer. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Community-based sample of elderly caregivers of spouses with Alzheimer disease assessed within their homes. PARTICIPANTS: A sample of 40 elderly spousal caregivers of patients with Alzheimer disease. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Participants underwent in-home full-night polysomnography and had plasma assayed for norepinephrine and epinephrine. Using multiple regression analyses and controlling for a number of cardiovascular risk factors (e.g., age, sex, blood pressure, body mass index), increased wake after sleep onset was positively associated with norepinephrine levels (beta = .35; t = 2.45, df = 32, p = .020) and plasma D-dimer (beta = .31; t = 2.18, df = 29, p = .038). Further, plasma norepinephrine was significantly associated with D-dimer (beta = .34; t = 2.11, df = 29, p = .044). Additional analyses indicated that norepinephrine accounted for 28% of the relationship between wake after sleep onset and D-dimer. No association was observed between sleep variables and epinephrine. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide preliminary evidence that sleep disturbance may contribute to morbidity in caregivers through sympathoadrenal medullary arousal and downstream physiologic effects such as altering the hemostasis environment.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Head Organs and Neurology (DKNS) > Clinic of Neurology > Centre of Competence for Psychosomatic Medicine
UniBE Contributor:	von Känel, Roland
ISSN:	0161-8105
ISBN:	17068989
Publisher:	American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 14:50
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:15
PubMed ID:	17068989
Web of Science ID:	000241653400012
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/21026 (FactScience: 4897)