And the most important stage of sleep is stage 3-4 (see diagram to the right).
During Stage 3-4, your brain actually clears debris (garbage) left over from the day (or days if you haven't slept well).
This debris includes the protein deposits specific to Alzheimer's and other dementias.
This clearance system (Coined "the Glymphatic System" by researchers) only happens during deep sleep - which occurs just before you dream. So in essence, if you wake remembering a dream, you can be sure that your brain has essentially cleaned up after itself!
This Alzheimer's Prevention tip is no small hurdle since it is estimated that 40-70% of older adults have chronic sleep problems, and up to 50% of cases are undiagnosed. So merely knowing that quality sleep helps prevent Alzheimer's is not enough. We need to make changes in our day that will help us sleep better at night.
The Glymphatic System - which is the process that takes place during the third stage of sleep to clear debris from our brain is similar in concept to your Lymphatic System. Each has the goal of removing left over (and cumbersome) waste. In fact, the Glymphatic System pours it's garbage into the body's Lymphatic system so it can be eliminated by the liver and kidneys.
But where they Lymphatic System works all the time in our bodies, the Glymphatic System has been shown to only work just before you dream.
Good to know: sleeping position actually improves the Glymphatic Clearance - so be sure to try to sleep on your right side to increase blood flow from the heart.
But it wasn't. Yet during sleep every mammal is completely paralyzed and vulnerable. So because evolution hasn't selected this common function out of all species, it makes sense to wonder why. And when you discover that it's during sleep that we clean our brains of clogging debris, and it's during sleep that our memories are transferred from the Hippocampus to the Frontal Lobe for long term storage - it makes sense.
Sleep, which is one your most important Alzheimer's Prevention strategies , needs to be well thought out, supported and protected.
And be sure of this: artificial sleep is no substitute. If your medication that puts you asleep prevents your from achieving deep sleep, then you only rested your mind - not your brain.
Copyright © 2022 Curing Alzheimer's Disease [EIN #88-3154550] All Rights Reserved. This information is not designed to replace a physician’s independent judgment about the appropriateness or risks of a procedure for a given patient. Always consult your doctor about your medical conditions. Curing Alzheimer's Disease.com does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Use of the site is conditional upon your acceptance of our terms of use.