Posted on 03/18/2025 3:56:00 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Poor sleep among older adults is linked to disruptions in the brain's "waste removal system," according to researchers. A recent study offers valuable insight into how sleep quality impacts brain functioning.
Many studies have linked poor sleep with a decline in brain functioning. Professor Lee's team focused on the glial-lymphatic (glymphatic) system, a fluid transport pathway that plays a vital role in clearing waste from the brain. The system's efficiency is a critical determinant of brain health, particularly in aging populations.
Professor Lee and her team sought to understand the glymphatic-brain relationship in poor sleepers, which underlies memory decline. Dysfunction of the glymphatic system leads to the accumulation of toxic proteins, and this process has recently been implicated in several neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.
"Sleep quality, brain activities, and glymphatic functioning are related. Understanding how sleep quality influences the glymphatic system and human brain networks offers valuable insight into the neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning age-related memory change," Professor Lee said.
The research team studied 72 older adults using functional MRI scans and sleep recordings. The findings indicate that poor sleep quality adversely affects normal brain function by deactivating the restorative glymphatic system.
"The results clearly reveal the effect of sleep on the human brain's network through the glymphatic system, which in turn affects memory performance in older adults," said Professor Lee. "Therefore, maintaining efficient glymphatic functioning seems crucial for promoting healthy aging."
The results of the study add important evidence that sleep quality affects cognitive health through the underlying neural relationships. "Impaired memory is a common complaint among older adults with poor sleep quality," Professor Lee noted. "Our results provide a novel perspective on the interplay between sleep, the glymphatic system and multimodal brain networks."
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Exactly.
Hey, by chance did you know Brian Kernighan, Ritchie?
They aren’t talking about naps or excessive sleep, they are talking about good, deep, restful sleep, which doesn’t have much to do with the length of your sleep cycle.
If you feel the need to nap a lot, or feel so tired you cannot easily get up, it could be because your sleep quality is poor and you aren’t getting to the sleep state you need. You could have sleep apnea or high anxiety, etc.
Thanks
BFL
(Parts of this based on ChatGPT:)
Anticholinergic means inhibiting the action of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter critical for memory and cognitive function.
Prolonged suppression of acetylcholine is believed to contribute to cognitive decline and increase the risk of dementia by 50%, as acetylcholine deficiency is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.
(Partly based on animal studies:) Chronic anticholinergic use may contribute to structural brain changes, including reduced brain volume and dysfunction in areas such as the hippocampus, which is crucial for memory and learning.
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Trazadone (prescription) is my own favorite sleep aid, with very minimal anticholinergic effects. But I recall, Bob, it didn't work for your dad.
Did you try taking at least one full gram of valerian root powder? Some people take ridiculously small amounts like 100 or 200 mg and give up on it. Although nothing like trazodone for me, a gram (which is actually the manufacturer’s recommendation) often puts me back to sleep if I wake up too early. And an alcohol-based tincture takes effect much quicker than capsules.
Android auto-correct keeps changing “trazodone” to “trazadone” because I used to misspell it and now has adopted the incorrect spelling as the gold standard.
Acetylcholine and its functional role in the brain was pretty well scoped out even many decades ago when I was in grad school. I wouldn’t do anything to deplete it.
For me, the one drawback of trazodone is that the sedative effect only works for 4 or 5 hours. But I realize that is more sleep than some get. But when I wake up I’ll often take an additional half-dose which is usually good for another couple of hours. Or, combined with valerian like this morning, is sometimes good for another 3-4 hours. Other times adding valerian seems to do little or nothing.
There have been only a handful of times when trazodone didn’t work at all for me, over a couple years. And I do start off the sleep cycle with 10 mg of melatonin. Otherwise, when I wake up to go to the bathroom, it takes longer to get back to sleep.
People who need to take short-term anticholinergic drugs for other medical purposes should not be alarmed. Prolonged use is required for these effects. If the drugs are needed long-term for maintenance therapy then I would explore alternatives if available.
I forget what the dose was-probably small dose. I even tried Kratom, which did mellow me out. But didn’t help with sleep much
I forget what the dose was-probably small dose. I even tried Kratom, which did mellow me out. But didn’t help with sleep much. I’ll give it another try at higher dose though, thanks for the suggestion
Yeah I talked sith my doc about that and Zhe said that the link hadn’t been estab,ished between the drug and the disease, and that it was more likely that so many people with alzheimer’s a,ready were taking it that it was just assumed that it was the drug at first. It was like a vicious circle, can’t sleep, get worse mentally, take benadryl, alzheimer’s gets worse, etc. I had heard what you mentioned and asked her about the possible connection, but felt more assured after speaking with her, but yeah, it’s one of those things where if I’m wrong., and they are wrong, and it is the drug which causes alzheimer’s I’ll pay a heavy price, but if I am to get it anyways, the disease I mean, then nothing is gonna stop it progressing- but in the meantime, I’ll get a bit more xleep- so it’s kind of hard to choose which evil is more evil I guess.
I’ll mention that to my relatives who are suffering lack of sleep,too- I sure hope it works. One is on trazadone, and takes like 4 pills a night, and still doesn’t sleep hardly at all. Maybe a combo might work.
Yep, as I said, valerian is a little hit or miss with me but one thing I know for sure is that small doses NEVER work. I would not hesitate to go to 2 g if needed because that is only double the manufacturer’s (NOW) recommendation and that is pretty much always safe. Liver-related problems are next to unknown with valerian (valerian is generally regarded as safe and not hepatotoxic).
As far as the possible spurious correlations you mentioned, consider that the animal studies aren’t subject to those. And many different types of anticholinergics are implicated, not just diphenhydramine. And the mechanism of acetylcholine depletion is pretty well understood, so I think your doctor is too dismissive of this.
But I understand your dilemma. If you do need to continue taking Benadryl and the causal link is valid, at least take some solace in that the increased risk is 50% over those who don’t take anticholinergics. Relative risk. Not 50% chance you’ll get dementia as a result but a 50% increased chance.
At least moderate to high doses of valerian have a fairly reliable calming effect, even if not a first-rate sedative. Also, a good smooth muscle relaxant (gut) which is really why I started taking it again recently.
A couple times I took two trazadone at once (200 mg in this case) and it put me in such a deep sleep it scared me. Individual differences. But 150 mg over a night is tolerable. Mirtazapine did the same thing but then it is an anticholinergic.
I would bet that half the people posting on this thread have some form of sleep apnea and would benefit from a “sleep study” leading to a prescription for a CPAP machine if so indicated.
I went through this, and I’m not done yet. I got my CPAP a month ago, and it is having positive, though not “miracle cure” results.
My symptoms: I call it “the 2 pm syndrome”. Every day, roughly at 2 pm, I can literally lay down even on a concrete surface and fall asleep. Absolutely no energy.
I don’t mean to get evangelical about this. If you have medical insurance, are an old fart (or aspire to be one) and are having sleeping troubles, I would suggest getting your doctor to prescribe a sleep study.
It doesn’t always show up at heavy snoring. Normal apnea episodes are about 5 per hour. On my sleep test, I was having 115 per hour.
I think the only issue is whether acetylcholine deficiency is causal for dementia (it almost certainly is, among other preconditions), or whether it is a consequence of dementia or reduced cognition (that would be strange and doesn’t fit with animal studies). It is known with certainty that anticholinergics deplete acetylcholine. So there you go.
The reason why this is so bad on the brain is that this system of waste removal (glymphatic) only operates when a person is asleep.
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