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 ...
I am actually kind of surprised that anyone would take it.
Thanks, I use Melatonin about half the time. It makes me sleepy but I seem to spend about the same amount of the night awake with or without it. Still experimenting with it. REM and Deep sleep both lacking a bit lately.
Three things to do, before you try Big Pharma potions.
Get a dietary checkup, to ensure you are getting all your nutrition.
Exercise hard about 5 hours before you sleep.
Take a hot shower just before bed.
Read something relaxing in your evening hours.
If you have trouble with sleep, try CBD. If you have trouble getting to sleep, try THC. I don’t do THC but I do CBD.
I have the wake up at night problem as well. I’ve started taking melatonin with mixed results
I use 5-10 mg melatonin and also valerian at times (requires about a gram), but prescription trazodone is my heavy hitter.
Trazadone is not a z-drug like Ambien, TG, but was originally researched as an antidepressant. Now it is prescribed more often as a sedative. It gives me such deep and restful sleep I don’t need nearly as much as without it. Additionally, trazodone does not have significant anti-cholinergic effects so concerns about later dementia (as is the case with first-generation antihistamines like diphenhydramine) are considerably lessened.
CBD is something I have but unfortunately has no sleep facilitating effect on me, even with a very healthy dose (100 mg). I agree it is worth trying, though. Different people are different. I know of a person for whom even trazadone doesn’t work.
As you recall, 40 Hz gamma entrainment may help to clear the neuro waste, at least in mice, but I would avoid the z-drugs if at all possible even so.
I have never tried Ambien, but it caused horrible nightmares for a friend of mine.
I use a shot or two of bourbon,And it works great for me But it certainly is not for everybody.If I wake up in the middle of the night I take another couple shots. I have no problem with deep REM sleep, I have Vivid dreams every night.
There is no free lunch.
It’s a rule that applies pretty much everywhere.
Heh, I’ve been on Zolpidem/ Ambien for 15yrs, with no problems. Not happy to read this article, but my Heart Disease, Kidney Disease or COPD will probably kill me before dementia sets in. I will pass this on to my primary care provider (PCP) at Wellspan.
Good memory! Yes, that is an option and I have an app that provides it.
I find the time release melatonin formulas work best for me.
I use Melatonin maybe twice a week, the rest of the week I use CBD gummies or Dr. Teal's sleep spray (I spray it on my pillow), or nothing at all. Greenroads has gummies specifically for sleep and no you don't get high and no they are not addictive! I do not mix any of these, it's one or the other and some nites I don't take anything. I use the Melatonin gummies or sometimes the liquid, with the Melatonin gummies, I take one gummy and cut it in half, I take the first half about 15 minutes before bed and leave the other half on the night table for when I wake up in the middle of the nite to go to the bathroom, I take that half on the way to the bathroom!
https://greenroads.com/cbd-gummies
You can get the sleep spray at Walmart.
Magnesium L-Threonate and calcium are great sleep aids need to take consistently I skip only once a week or so.
Magnesium L-Threonate
Yeah, “good memory” ‘cuz I play that MIT 40 Hz track on my phone😊
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.