Posted on 01/14/2025 1:48:40 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Sleep disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea can significantly impact health and quality of life. Poor sleep often precedes the onset of neurodegenerative diseases and is a predictor of early dementia.
Research describes for the first time the tightly synchronized oscillations in the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, cerebral blood, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that combine during non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep in mice.
These oscillations power the glymphatic system—a brain-wide network responsible for removing protein waste, including amyloid and tau, associated with neurodegenerative diseases.
The study also holds a warning for people who use the commonly prescribed sleep aid zolpidem. The drug suppressed the glymphatic system, potentially setting the stage for neurological disorders like Alzheimer's, which are the result of the toxic accumulation of proteins in the brain.
Unlike previous research, which immobilized the mice and used anesthesia to induce sleep, the new approach allowed researchers to record brain activity during long, uninterrupted periods of wakefulness and sleep while allowing mice to move freely during recordings.
The research highlights the critical role of norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter associated with arousal, attention, and the body's response to stress.
The team observed that slow synchronized waves of norepinephrine, cerebral blood volume, and CSF flow characterized non-REM sleep. The norepinephrine triggered "micro-arousals," causing vasomotion, the rhythmic constriction of blood vessels independent of the heartbeat. This oscillation, in turn, generates the pumping action necessary to move CSF in the glymphatic system during sleep.
The study also explored whether sleep aids replicate the natural oscillations necessary for glymphatic function. The team focused on zolpidem, a sedative marketed under the name Ambien, which is prescribed to treat insomnia.
While zolpidem effectively induced sleep in the mice, it also suppressed norepinephrine oscillations, disrupting the glymphatic system and impeding the brain's waste-clearing processes, a finding that raises concerns about long-term use.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Melatonin is used in combating vaxx covid, has many good affects.
I did review a couple of apps but decided to use the original MIT track used in their study. If there was an app that used that actual track I missed it.
Trazodone is spelled like that, with an “o” in the middle. For some reason an “a” crept into a couple of my attempts at rendering it.
I exercise at 10 PM for 20-25 minutes, then take a warm shower, and sleep comes quickly. If still have trouble falling asleep, I drink half a cup of warmed up in microwave milk with half teaspoon of sugar added. That always works. At age 84, have no health issues, only Rx is 10 mg Lisinopril (I eat too much salty pizza).
In the old days they used Dalmane which has been renamed. That worked.
My brain is full of garbage.
I’ve been using zolpidem for a few years,, on and off. No problems.
But I don’t like to rely on it.
Reading a good book is sometimes better.
Bookmark
My husband had quite a trip getting home after taking it too early while out shopping. In other words it took effect faster than expected. I do not know how he made it home.
My husband was on Ambien for years and his new doc switched him to trazodone and he is doing much better on it. He’s had sleep issues since I met him. Maybe it’s me? LOL
Seriously, he’s not young so I was surprised the old doc prescribed Ambien and let him stay on it for as long as he did.
Benadryl is best for sleep.Knocks you right out.
Try time released melatonin. Helps me most nights.
Have you tried timed released melatonin? It works for me more often than not.
We have been on Ambien for years at our house. It works great , but don’t like reading this.
Recently, I read an article that Benadryl does something to your brain too. Who knows.
I can’t take Melatonin. It gives me the WORST nightmares! Ugh!
I have found that Diphenhydramine, 50mg works great for me. It’s the same stuff they put in Ny-Quil and the like to make you sleepy...without the decongestant and other ‘stuff.’
No side effects; I’ve been taking it for years, as needed.
It’s available at Walmart and Walgreen’s or on-line.
I had Ambien for two days while in the hospital after ankle repair surgery, about 10 years ago. It put me in such a deep sleep that we discovered I have sleep apnea when I go that deep. I am fortunate. When I entered a sleep study after that, my sleep apnea isn’t so bad as to need correction. I was very borderline. After that, I decided to lose weight. 25 pounds has been off for 8 years and counting. Now I have a normal BMI. So the sleep apnea isn’t really an issue for me. I do have restless legs, and that bothers my husband’s sleep, which is why I try my best to get to bed when I should.
As for the vivid dreams, I have those most every night, since I was a young child. I still remember my dreams from when I was 3 and 4. It’s just part of me. There are very few nights when I DON’T remember my dreams.
*** My brain is full of garbage.***
No, Jim! Your brain is full of godliness! It may not be perfect, but it’s got the good and godly in there!
Guardian angels surrounded him… and you!
Funny you say that. My husband also used to fall asleep at the wheel alot. (45 minute drive on second shift) Maybe sleep apnea, we do not know. He would get home, but not remember how/when he got here. I told often him his guardian angels drove him home.
We are retired now, not so much driving.
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