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Sleep Flushes Toxins from the Brain

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Sleep Flushes Toxins from the Brain

#81

Post by wtvanhest »

jessriedel wrote: post #60
Miyamoto wrote: post #51

Awesome. One very (very very) small step closer to creating a pill to help the flushing process so we may sleep less, or not at all.

Seems unlikely. Essentially all animals with a brain sleep, even flies. You'd need to find a pill that could do something that not one animal was able to evolve to do over hundreds of millions of years. Something that was extremely calorie intensive is all I can imagine.

I appreciate your logic, but there is a wide variety of needed levels of sleep among different animals, and even among different individual humans which tells me that some are more efficient than others at sleeping (maybe clearing toxins?).

As efficient as evolution is, the ability not to sleep as much may not be a huge determinant in reproduction. Just 100 years ago, people worked all day, then relaxed and slept. There was little to no demand for not sleeping at all from a survival standpoint.

The main reason people want to stay awake all night now is to work more and advance their careers. You don't need that for survival.

Further, Pharma companies have done some amazing things. While I agree that it is unlikely soon, I am confident that if humans are around in 200 years, it becomes much, much more likely.

Re: Sleep Flushes Toxins from the Brain

#82

Post by joshuahedlund »

brickcap wrote: post #66

Fascinating. An average 60 year old man sleeps for 20 years (considering a normal 8 hr a day sleep) that is 1/3 of his life. A polar bear and some other hibernating animals sleep for half of their lives. Amazingly polar bear is cognizant enough to feed her baby while she is sleeping. Sleep also lowers the heart beat. It is generally accepted that all mammals have the same life span in number of hear beats. An elephan…

> It is generally accepted that all mammals have the same life span in number of heart beats.

Please note that while there is some correlation it may not be strict enough to suggest that lowering your own heart rate will help you live longer.

http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/5701/does-every-...

Re: Sleep Flushes Toxins from the Brain

#83

Post by dbbolton »

srd wrote: post #79
drewcrawford wrote: post #69

This appears to have an interesting implication for FFI [1], a mysterious genetic disease that causes complete insomnia in adults and results in death. The final stage of FFI is dementia. It turns out that the β-amyloids that are cleared during sleep according to this paper, are associated with certain types of dementia in the general population [2]. It also turns out that certain sleep disorders are dementia predict…

Is it known if there are ways to support the cleanup process? I ask because due to allergies I have constant sinus congestions and as a result a very light sleep. On average I wake up (to the point where I'm consciously aware that I'm awake) 2 to 4 times per night, persumably due to lack of oxygen. I'm noticing memory issues; and while the process may not be reversable, I would like to halt it or at least slow it dow…

My dad and I are in a similar situation to you- terrible nasal congestion constantly interfering with sleep.

The quick and dirty solution is decongestants. However, vasoconstrictors (pseudoephedrine, oxymetazoline, phenylepherine, etc.) often have a "rebound effect", i.e. when they wear off you find you're actually more congested than you were before you took the drug. In this sense they can be quite addictive. I try not to use any unless it's absolutely necessary, and only once every few days at that.

One thing that helps a little bit is Breathe Right nasal strips. They will often open up the nasal passages enough that I no longer have to struggle to breathe through my nose. If I'm only slightly congested, I use these. I don't know if the increased air flow would be enough to keep you asleep or not, but it's probably worth a try.

For the most part, I have pretty much adapted to function on a few hours' worth of sleep. I can go on a three hour nap twice a day for an indefinite length of time. I don't know if that is enough rest to fully clean up the brain, but I don't feel crappy all the time so I suppose it's good enough. It definitely works better for me than sleeping for 6 hours once a day. I typically sleep in on the weekends, but I recently saw an article claiming that isn't enough to erase slept debt accumulated during the week.

Re: Sleep Flushes Toxins from the Brain

#84

Post by nikatwork »

jotm wrote: post #74
nikatwork wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention hypnagogic / sleep paralysis - mind awake, body asleep.

Except both of these are rare occurences that last a short while - it would probably be very detrimental to have lucid dreams or sleep paralysis every night for months/years.

Oh I find sleep paralysis very unrestful. The point is though, there are more mental states than "awake/asleep".

And let me tell you, sleep paralysis is not always rare...

Re: Sleep Flushes Toxins from the Brain

#85

Post by guerrilla »

applecore wrote: post #30
daenz wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe that's the solution...have so much memory that you only need to GC once every 24 hours...for 8 hours :)

That's pretty much how trading systems work.

That sounds interesting. Could you elaborate please?

Re: Sleep Flushes Toxins from the Brain

#86

Post by legitsource »

nikatwork wrote: post #84
jotm wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except both of these are rare occurences that last a short while - it would probably be very detrimental to have lucid dreams or sleep paralysis every night for months/years.

Oh I find sleep paralysis very unrestful. The point is though, there are more mental states than "awake/asleep". And let me tell you, sleep paralysis is not always rare...

I'm narcoleptic. Sleep paralysis happens pretty often to me and it still causes me distress almost every time until I "boot up" enough to realize what is going on.

Hypnagogic hallucinations (at least that I remember) are quite a bit rarer and much more terrifying, since my brain pretty much dreams up the worst possible scenarios possible (burning building, demons, reapers, Sasquatch, being dead in a morgue drawer, and even evil leprechauns have made appearances).

Re: Sleep Flushes Toxins from the Brain

#87

Post by aestra »

srd wrote: post #79
drewcrawford wrote: post #69

This appears to have an interesting implication for FFI [1], a mysterious genetic disease that causes complete insomnia in adults and results in death. The final stage of FFI is dementia. It turns out that the β-amyloids that are cleared during sleep according to this paper, are associated with certain types of dementia in the general population [2]. It also turns out that certain sleep disorders are dementia predict…

Is it known if there are ways to support the cleanup process? I ask because due to allergies I have constant sinus congestions and as a result a very light sleep. On average I wake up (to the point where I'm consciously aware that I'm awake) 2 to 4 times per night, persumably due to lack of oxygen. I'm noticing memory issues; and while the process may not be reversable, I would like to halt it or at least slow it dow…

Have you seen a doctor about this?

I know they have CPAP machines which have a heated humidifier, which I presume will keep your congestion under control over the course of the night and your airways open.

I'm no doctor, so go talk to yours and go see a sleep specialists to see why you are awaking in the middle of the night.

Re: Sleep Flushes Toxins from the Brain

#89

Post by nikatwork »

legitsource wrote: post #86
nikatwork wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I find sleep paralysis very unrestful. The point is though, there are more mental states than "awake/asleep". And let me tell you, sleep paralysis is not always rare...

I'm narcoleptic. Sleep paralysis happens pretty often to me and it still causes me distress almost every time until I "boot up" enough to realize what is going on. Hypnagogic hallucinations (at least that I remember) are quite a bit rarer and much more terrifying, since my brain pretty much dreams up the worst possible scenarios possible (burning building, demons, reapers, Sasquatch, being dead in a morgue drawer, an…

Don't forget the alien strobe lights. Sorry now you are gonna see that too.

In all seriousness, wiggle your big toe. For some reason your fine motor controls are probably still online, and it will break you out of the hypnagogic state. Kill bill wasn't lying.

But... if you wanna real trip, try to remain calm, still and breathe deeply through the hallucinations and keep in mind that nothing can hurt you (I like to repeat the mantra, "there is nothing to fear but fear itself").

You will reach a state of blissful calm. Congratulations, you just achieved a meditative state that people strive for years to reach. From there you can have out of body experiences, transcendental meditation, etc. Seriously it's some spooky business.

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