As the elderly population increases year by year, the population of dementia and Parkinson’s disease remains high. At present, long-term drug treatment is ineffective and prone to side effects. The quality of life of patients declines, the family’s economy is affected, and the pressure on medical and social welfare care is increasing day by day. In recent years, there have been many dazzling discoveries in sleep medicine research, which may be a new solution to prevent or slow down dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
A study subtitled “Another Reason for Needing Sleep” found that cerebrospinal fluid from the brains of live mice has the function of flushing all levels of nervous system toxins. The heavy cerebral nervous system only accounts for 2% of the body weight, and the static energy consumption reaches 1/4 of the whole body, but it lacks the lymphatic drainage system possessed by other parts of the body.
Surprisingly, the accumulation of toxins (including β-amyloid and Tao proteins in Alzheimer’s disease; α-synuclein proteins in Parkinson’s disease) accumulated in large amounts after the brain’s daily processing, flushing of this glial cell lymphatic system (Glymphatics) Mode, which can only be performed during “Peaceful Deep Sleep”. The back-up toxin flushing fluid (cerebrospinal fluid) is generated during the day.
When human beings sleep, the blood flow of the brain immediately decreases in the period of deep sleep, the brain volume decreases, and the gaps next to the cerebral blood vessels are vacated, providing a flow channel for the toxin flushing fluid to oscillate in waves. In addition, during deep sleep, slow brain waves repeatedly oscillate from the front of the brain to the back in sequence, rebuilding the fast pathways of perception, cognition, and movement, and wandering around in the hippocampus (a temporary memory storage site), interacting with various parts of the brain. Dialogue, with a view to classifying and consolidating daytime learning experience and memory in various areas of the brain.
From this point of view, it is not meaningless for humans to spend 1/3 of their lives on sleep. Under the careful arrangement of the creator, the tasks of the brain are instantly changed during night sleep, just like a convenience supermarket in the middle of the night: accounting, cleaning, stocking and putting on the shelves. If these operations cannot be performed flawlessly, how can they cope with the enormous demands of the day?
“Sleep well” is more important than you think
That is to say, the brain during deep sleep surprisingly shuts down the reception and response of almost all internal and external information, and turns the task to the elimination of toxins, the classification and preservation of daytime memory, and the activation of neuroplasticity.
In addition to admiring the creator’s fine and great arrangements, the idea of catastrophic disaster also arises. In modern society, people go to bed late, work and rest upside down, and lack of sleep for many years. Humans are contrary to the laws of nature, and it is very likely to cause chronic diseases of the nervous system that are currently unknown, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and cerebellar degeneration.
Although there are still genetic factors for the above diseases, the toxins are not completely eliminated, and they accumulate in the nerve center for a long time, and then repeated mild (not easy to detect) inflammation, causing local or comprehensive brain nerve cell degeneration, which is the acquired cause.
After the occurrence of certain diseases, the day-night cycle disorder and sleep-disordered breathing become more severe, resulting in daytime sleepiness, insomnia at night or light sleep throughout the day, memory loss, and diverse autonomic nervous system disorders. discomfort. Under the vicious circle, the overall functional degradation is accelerated.
In patients with these chronic neurological diseases, “sleep apnea”, “periodic lower extremity tics” and “rapid eye movement disorder” are very common and should be treated by a sleep specialist.
From the details of life to create quality sleep
What the patient can work hard is to stabilize the sleep-wake cycle, regular exercise during the day, and regular and quantitative meals. If you are drowsy at sunset, you can use bright lights or music to refresh yourself, and be sure to go to bed when you are asleep. In order to consolidate effective sleep, the best sleep time should be from 10 o’clock at night to 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning. Soak your calves in warm water before going to bed to help your body temperature drop, or take sleep aids such as melatonin. Try to use dim yellow low-brightness lights at night, so as not to affect your sleep again. Patients can use cranial magnetic stimulation (repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, rTMS) to activate specific brain areas, plus related rehabilitation treatments such as cognition, balance, movement, swallowing, etc., to improve daily function.
We all want to live a long life, but there is no point in living a long life with illness. Sleep disturbances often occur at the moment of the lowest risk perception. A lack of sleep and light sleep for a long time often makes patients and caregivers lose their vigilance. Family members of people with dementia and Parkinson’s disease must be keen to observe changes in symptoms and guide patients patiently. Cooperating with medical treatment, correcting the patient’s work and rest, and strengthening the ability of daily life are the best prevention and treatment strategies.
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