If getting enough good sleep may help prevent Alzheimer's, would you be interested in learning more?

No one wants to get Alzheimer's, as it strikes the elderly and not so elderly.

And it affects not only its victims, but those who care for them.

The brain is the center of the nervous system and controls thought, memory, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, respiration, and every process that regulates your body.

As we age, it becomes increasingly important to care for the brain — especially to prevent conditions, like Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

According to a recent article in Considerable titled “Deep sleep may clear the brain of Alzheimer’s toxins,” previous studies noted that people who sleep poorly are more prone to developing Alzheimer’s.

What if sleep may help prevent Alzheimer's?

However, scientists were never clear as to why.

It seems a 2013 study performed on mice revealed that, while they slept, toxins like beta amyloid (which may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease) were washed away.

Nonetheless, scientists had no answers regarding why sleep may help prevent Alzheimer's.

This new study found that during sleep electrical signals (or slow waves) appear, followed by a pulse of fluid that “washes” the brain.

The scientists now found an answer to their question, presuming that this fluid is vital to the process of removing dangerous toxins associated with Alzheimer’s.

What is the takeaway?

People might be able to reduce their risk of Alzheimer’s by getting high-quality sleep.

To come to this conclusion, the researchers used MRI techniques and related technologies to monitor the brain activity of 11 sleeping people.

In particular, researchers monitored cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which is vital liquid flowing through the brain and spinal cord.

What did they learn?

During sleep, large, slow waves of CSF wash into the brain every 20 seconds.

The report said that electrical activity in the neurons provokes each of these waves — the scientists compared all of this to the workings of “a very slow washing machine.”

This groundbreaking finding suggests that people may be able to decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s, simply by making certain that they get high-quality sleep.

Thus, quality sleep plays a critical part in brain protection, toxin elimination, and neurodegenerative disease prevention.

Previous Alzheimer’s medications have targeted specific toxins readily present in diseased brains, such as beta amyloid.

However, these drugs all failed during clinical trials, perhaps because they were only targeting one part of the issue.

According to Maiken Nedergaard, a neuroscientist at the University of Rochester who led the 2013 study on mice, the current study opens a new pathway for treatment that would concentrate on increasing the amount of CSF in the brain all together, instead of simply targeting specific toxins.

Well, I find that to be great news.

Who could not use a little more quality sleep these days, especially if it may help prevent Alzheimer's?

Reference: Considerable (Sep. 29, 2020) “Deep sleep may clear the brain of Alzheimer’s toxins”