11/13/2013
Without Proper Sleep, Your Brain Fills With Toxic Waste
Edited by: Dr. David Wade, DC
We all know sleep is important. In fact, we feel its urgency. When we are tired and don’t sleep, exhaustion sets in and then comes a phase some people call being “past exhaustion,” wherein one has difficulty shutting down into sleep.
Foggy headedness, recall difficulty, muscle motor issues and pain creep in. Over time, poor sleep or insufficient sleep leads to a body that is unable to repair itself adequately and increases the risk for migraines, fibromyalgia, autoimmune issues, obesity and heart disease. But now, new research suggests even more reason why we must get our sleep.
Sleep Detox
Sleep is the time when the body repairs interior and cellular damage and replenishes the most necessary hormones while metabolizing the harmful stress hormones. Now we know, thanks to research led by Maiken Nedargarrd, M.D., and his group at University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), that during sleep hours, the brain is basically detoxing and protecting us from the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
By imaging lab animals’ brains with a new imaging technology known as two-photon microscopy, the URMC researchers discovered how the brain basically mops up waste products and removes them during sleep. This demonstrates how the brain actually functions differently at night and during the day.
The brain’s glymphatic system, says Nedergaard, is akin to a waste-draining system that works at a rate 10 times more active during sleep than waking hours. During sleep, this system cleanses and removes from the brain amyloid-beta waste proteins. The system works because during sleep, cerebrospinal fluid actually flows in the gaps between neurons, thereby allowing waste proteins to be flushed into the circulatory system and out of the body.
If left “un-detoxed,” these proteins become the plaques that contribute to the onset of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Nedergaard states that sleep is vital for this “active clearance of the by-products of neural activity.” In other words, people with insomnia, sleep apnea and dream-disturbed sleep do not get as much of a brain detoxing effect as those who sleep soundly for the evening.
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