Biomarker of Alzheimer's found to be regulated by sleep cycles • Hacker News Board

Re: Biomarker of Alzheimer's found to be regulated by sleep cycles

#61

Post by James_Henry » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 7:21 PM UTC

mike_d wrote: post #53

snikeris wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first line of treatment is CBT-I.

CBT-I is psychotherapy targeted at treating one specific cause of insomnia. It does not address any of the physical ailments that may also lead to sleep disorders. If you aren't careful, you'll lose your internet medical license with such bold medically unsound claims.

I think our friendly internet medical doctor was trying to say that there are some useful principles in CBT-I that could be helpful for a lot of people, which is probably true.

As someone who took way too long fussing with sleep hygiene and the like before finally getting a proper sleep test though, I see the potential danger of telling people what to do first. (Though in my defense, I did get a sleep test a while back and it ended up the sleep tech was trash and I should have gotten a second opinion)

Re: Biomarker of Alzheimer's found to be regulated by sleep cycles

#62

Post by Erlich_Bachman » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 7:24 PM UTC

vmception wrote: post #35

Am I starting to understand that people with Alzheimer were all part of "hustle culture" when they were younger? Guess we should teach discipline in a different way, or just acknowledge that our socioeconomic circumstances will never materially change - or at least have a real ceiling - outside of complete luck.

What is the logic that is holding your reasoning together? A lot of "hustling" culture actually ephasizes good habits including hardcore sleep scheduling, good nutrition and excercise?

Re: Biomarker of Alzheimer's found to be regulated by sleep cycles

#63

Post by James_Henry » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 7:27 PM UTC

throwaway98797 wrote: post #52

dcolkitt wrote: post #50

I believe in 100 years we'll look back in horror at our society's casual indifference to routinely waking adolescents, a group with the latest shifted circadian rhythms, wake up before dawn. Much the same way that we look back at horror with the past's casual indifference to smoking.

only 100 years ago most would be waking up before dawn to milk the cows.

And only a few hundred years ago jaw size supposedly started shrinking leading to increased sleep disordered breathing, at least that's what some researchers claim.

Also, hunter-gatherer societies may get less sleep than the recommended. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/the-many... And the San and Tsimane may not have a word for insomnia because they have bigger airways?

Re: Biomarker of Alzheimer's found to be regulated by sleep cycles

#64

Post by rtx » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 7:27 PM UTC

solids wrote: post #59

rtx wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we have it backwards, the problem is going to sleep late.

The problem is not listening to our body requests. If you are tired, you should you sleep, and then avoid alarms to wake up.

I have found discipline to be better.

Re: Biomarker of Alzheimer's found to be regulated by sleep cycles

#65

Post by James_Henry » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 7:31 PM UTC

treeman79 wrote: post #58

throwaway98797 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

only 100 years ago most would be waking up before dawn to milk the cows.

And in bed at sundown.

I don't think so, especially not 100 years ago. There were too many good radio programs and before that there were other people to talk to and even alone, there were the stars.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/the-many...

Re: Biomarker of Alzheimer's found to be regulated by sleep cycles

#66

Post by vmception » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 7:34 PM UTC

Erlich_Bachman wrote: post #62

vmception wrote: post #35

Am I starting to understand that people with Alzheimer were all part of "hustle culture" when they were younger? Guess we should teach discipline in a different way, or just acknowledge that our socioeconomic circumstances will never materially change - or at least have a real ceiling - outside of complete luck.

What is the logic that is holding your reasoning together? A lot of "hustling" culture actually ephasizes good habits including hardcore sleep scheduling, good nutrition and excercise?

And a lot of it doesn't.

Re: Biomarker of Alzheimer's found to be regulated by sleep cycles

#67

Post by LinuxBender » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 7:34 PM UTC

bluedevil2k wrote: post #23

I'm curious if sleep aids, whether it's OTC like melatonin or Rx like trazodone and Ambien, can help this situation. Is it just the sleep that's beneficial or is it "natural" sleep (that term doesn't mean anything, but you get the point of it)? In other words, should people who have difficulty sleeping look to aids as a way of staving off dementia later in life.

Melatonin is a hormone that can assist you with falling asleep, but it has no capability to keep you asleep or allow you to reach the 4 stages of deep sleep. Ambien is worse, in that it can make you feel like you are going to sleep, but you will not get into the deep states of sleep required for the brain to detoxify itself. The same is true for weed. Some folks use weed to help themselves sleep, but they are actually depriving themselves of the 4 stages of deep sleep. Chronic use of Ambien, weed and other drugs can cause a person to have mild hallucinations, delirium tremens or worse.

This will be an unpopular opinion, but I believe the better method of improving sleep is to improve eating habits, go easy on caffeine, get exercise, get rid of artificial light hours before going to sleep and stay away from people and things that cause you stress. Easier said than done.

Re: Biomarker of Alzheimer's found to be regulated by sleep cycles

#68

Post by noja » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 7:36 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #60

dcolkitt wrote: post #50

I believe in 100 years we'll look back in horror at our society's casual indifference to routinely waking adolescents, a group with the latest shifted circadian rhythms, wake up before dawn. Much the same way that we look back at horror with the past's casual indifference to smoking.

I suspect the same will be true about artificial light. Our sleep cycles changed dramatically with the introduction of electric light. A few years back I built an automated lighting system [1] for my apartment that was basically a scaled-up version of a light-based alarm clock [2]. I got the expected benefit, getting up more easily in the morning. But it turned out the bigger benefit was going to sleep at a more regu…

I think Hue bulbs can do that out of the box.

Re: Biomarker of Alzheimer's found to be regulated by sleep cycles

#69

Post by James_Henry » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 7:38 PM UTC

rtx wrote: post #64

solids wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not listening to our body requests. If you are tired, you should you sleep, and then avoid alarms to wake up.

I have found discipline to be better.

I think that sometimes it takes a bit more than discipline, if you are going to really do it right. Sometimes there is an underlying medical issues keeping you from quality sleep (and leading to a delayed sleep phase) and other times it might actually be that, given your genetics or what not, you just don't sleep until later.

I am a fan of "early to bed, early to rise." But for me it's got to be with a PAP machine.

Re: Biomarker of Alzheimer's found to be regulated by sleep cycles

#70

Post by ska » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 7:43 PM UTC

klondike_klive wrote: post #47

exhilaration wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're just going through this with my dad, far fewer resources for the middle class when it come to getting assistance at home. Becoming "purposely financially destitute" sounds like a good strategy but I'm sure it has its own risks.

At least in the UK attempts to gift money to relatives or sell a house to prevent it being sold to pay for social care is seen as "deprivation of assets" in a financial assessment.

I think in a lot of jurisdictions this is possible, but there are timing considerations. I know families who have moved significant majority of assets to children much earlier than any medical issues, partially as a hedge against this.