Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

newatlas.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 181 posts

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

#21

Post by criddell »

sicromoft wrote: post #9
Brajeshwar wrote: post #4

I'm currently reading the book, "Why We Sleep (Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams)" right now and I'm stunned by all the new things we ignored when it comes to sleep. There are so many fascinating aspects of our life and body, all governed by Sleep. I highly suggest reading the book to explore more about your sleep.

Be warned, that book is riddled with scientific and factual errors: https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/

Walker has responded to some of this:

https://sleepdiplomat.wordpress.com/2019/12/19/why-we-sleep-...

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

#22

Post by rubicon33 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #14
Brajeshwar wrote: post #4

I'm currently reading the book, "Why We Sleep (Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams)" right now and I'm stunned by all the new things we ignored when it comes to sleep. There are so many fascinating aspects of our life and body, all governed by Sleep. I highly suggest reading the book to explore more about your sleep.

It's a great book for emphasizing the importance of sleep. The author's desired outcome is to get people interested in healthy sleep habits, and he hits a home run in that regard. However, take some of the science positions in the book with a grain of salt. The author is notorious for being directionally correct in his opinions, but exaggerating a lot of the science for dramatic effect. This doesn't matter at all if…

I have a weird relationship with sleep.

If I sleep LESS (5, 6 hours) I feel better. More energy, lighter on my feet, less depressed.

That lack of sleep always catches up with me though, and after 4-5 days of that I'll have a day where I just feel EXHAUSTED and end up sleeping like 10 hours that night.

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

#23

Post by bluedevil2k »

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.

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

#24

Post by Guest42 »

rubicon33 wrote: post #22
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a great book for emphasizing the importance of sleep. The author's desired outcome is to get people interested in healthy sleep habits, and he hits a home run in that regard. However, take some of the science positions in the book with a grain of salt. The author is notorious for being directionally correct in his opinions, but exaggerating a lot of the science for dramatic effect. This doesn't matter at all if…

I have a weird relationship with sleep. If I sleep LESS (5, 6 hours) I feel better. More energy, lighter on my feet, less depressed. That lack of sleep always catches up with me though, and after 4-5 days of that I'll have a day where I just feel EXHAUSTED and end up sleeping like 10 hours that night.

For me it seems like the earlier I start the less is required.

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

#25

Post by PragmaticPulp »

rubicon33 wrote: post #22
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a great book for emphasizing the importance of sleep. The author's desired outcome is to get people interested in healthy sleep habits, and he hits a home run in that regard. However, take some of the science positions in the book with a grain of salt. The author is notorious for being directionally correct in his opinions, but exaggerating a lot of the science for dramatic effect. This doesn't matter at all if…

I have a weird relationship with sleep. If I sleep LESS (5, 6 hours) I feel better. More energy, lighter on my feet, less depressed. That lack of sleep always catches up with me though, and after 4-5 days of that I'll have a day where I just feel EXHAUSTED and end up sleeping like 10 hours that night.

> If I sleep LESS (5, 6 hours) I feel better. More energy, lighter on my feet, less depressed.

This is a well-known phenomenon, believe it or not. Acute sleep deprivation has a strong anti-depressant effect in people suffering from depression. It can even trigger hypomanic or manic episodes in people who have bipolar disorder. Scientific American wrote a nice article about it several years ago: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-sleep-depriva...

As you noticed, the effect is completely unsustainable. Chronic sleep deprivation will worsen depression, not improve it.

There has been some research into using acute sleep deprivation to kick-start treatment with traditional antidepressant medication. Results are mixed, but it can help some patients cope until the antidepressants start working.

There is also some [very] weak evidence that advancing your sleep phase (going to bed earlier, waking up earlier) can stabilize the acute antidepressant effects for a couple of days: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12799743/

Long term, treating the underlying depression with traditional methods (CBT, bright light therapy, exercise, antidepressant medications) is the only sustainable solution for most people.

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

#26

Post by jackTheMan »

sicromoft wrote: post #9
Brajeshwar wrote: post #4

I'm currently reading the book, "Why We Sleep (Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams)" right now and I'm stunned by all the new things we ignored when it comes to sleep. There are so many fascinating aspects of our life and body, all governed by Sleep. I highly suggest reading the book to explore more about your sleep.

Be warned, that book is riddled with scientific and factual errors: https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/

Very interesting writing, I wonder if the people sleeping just 6 hours (who are in the best condition acc. to a later explanation) wouldn't be because they have a cause in their life? They have a purpose that is why they get up early and motivated enough to work on it. For people with more sleep might be less motivated in average?

Interesting topic nevertheless.

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

#28

Post by tartoran »

rubicon33 wrote: post #22
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a great book for emphasizing the importance of sleep. The author's desired outcome is to get people interested in healthy sleep habits, and he hits a home run in that regard. However, take some of the science positions in the book with a grain of salt. The author is notorious for being directionally correct in his opinions, but exaggerating a lot of the science for dramatic effect. This doesn't matter at all if…

I have a weird relationship with sleep. If I sleep LESS (5, 6 hours) I feel better. More energy, lighter on my feet, less depressed. That lack of sleep always catches up with me though, and after 4-5 days of that I'll have a day where I just feel EXHAUSTED and end up sleeping like 10 hours that night.

To me that mark is 6 hours. The more I sleep past that the more lethargic I become. Likewise if I sleep between 5 and 6 hours I’m fine but will catch up with me

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

#29

Post by exhilaration »

adamredwoods wrote: post #20
remote_phone wrote: post #8

My mother has dementia, and I know 5 other close friends that are starting to deal with it as well. This is becoming an epidemic and what people don’t realize is that it is extremely expensive and exceedingly cruel. Most health care systems, including Canada and the US, do not handle dementia well at all. You have the choice of becoming financially destitute keeping your parents in a dignified setting, or you can let…

My mother was purposely financially destitute when she died post dementia. It was the only way for the state to help pay for services without collecting everything (house, car, pension, etc). Later we were able to put her on hospice and that offered much more assistance. I cannot describe the stress in trying to figure out financials as a loved one is dying. It led to many sleepless nights...

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.

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

#30

Post by illegalsmile »

TaupeRanger wrote: post #11
Brajeshwar wrote: post #4

I'm currently reading the book, "Why We Sleep (Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams)" right now and I'm stunned by all the new things we ignored when it comes to sleep. There are so many fascinating aspects of our life and body, all governed by Sleep. I highly suggest reading the book to explore more about your sleep.

It's not a good book and was basically just used to get Matt Walker on daytime talk shows. It doesn't even attempt to answer the question in its title, and it has many cherry picked studies that don't actually prove what he's implying they do.

I'd argue that regardless of the author's motive, as a layperson, it's a good book because it's easy to read and started me down the path of exploring my sleep in-depth. My take away from the book is, like so many other biological functions, we still don't really know why we sleep but we know sleep is important. Learn more if you want to, learn about why this book could be considered controversial but for most people the takeaway of "sleep good" is what matters.
Post reply on HN