I’ve read a couple of articles recently about how sleep disturbance contributes to the development of dementia and how improved sleep may help stave off dementia as you age. (1. 2.)
Sleep is a basic human need. Sleep is vital for good health and well-being throughout your lifetime. Deep sleep supports the brain in many ways, and sleep boosts the clearance of metabolic waste from the brain, including the clearance of proteins that aggregate in Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly.
During sleep your brain cycles through distinct phases every 90 minutes or so. There are two primary types of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep.
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is the stage of sleep when most dreaming occurs. During this stage, the eyes move rapidly, and brain activity increases. Your breathing and heart rate may also increase, and your muscles become temporarily paralyzed.
Non-REM sleep is further divided into three stages, each with its own characteristics.
Stage 1 : This is the lightest stage of sleep, and it usually lasts for only a few minutes. During this stage there may be slow eye movements, and muscle activity slows down. A person can be easily awakened during this stage.
Stage 2 : This stage is characterised by decreased muscle activity, heart rate, and breathing rate. The body temperature drops, and brain waves become slower. Most sleep time is spent in this stage.
Stage 3 : This is the deepest stage of sleep, and it is also known as slow-wave sleep (SWS). During this stage, brain waves become even slower, and muscles relax. It is difficult to wake someone during this stage. If someone is awakened, they may feel groggy and disoriented for a few minutes.
Sleep plays a key role in cortical plasticity (neuroplasticity), that is, the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections based on your experiences, lifestyle and environment.
It is also necessary for and memory consolidation. When you learn something new, the best way to remember it is to sleep on it, because sleeping helps strengthen memories you have formed throughout the day.
Sleep primes the brain for good learning the following day, preparing your brain for initial formation of memories.
Also, sleep after learning is essential to help fix that new information into the brain so that you’re less likely to forget it, without a decent night’s sleep your ability to learn new things could drop by up to forty percent!!
REM sleep seems to play a role in linking together related memories, sometimes in unexpected ways, so a full night of proper sleep can help with problem-solving. It also helps you process emotional memories, which can reduce the intensity of emotions.
If you are not getting enough sleep the symptoms manifest differently in in children and adults.
Children who are sleep deficient could be overly active and have problems paying attention, they can be angry and impulsive, have mood swings, feel sad or depressed, or lack motivation.
In adults poor sleep is linked to many chronic health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression. There can be problems with learning, focusing, and reacting. Your decision making, problem solving, and memory can all suffer, so that tasks take longer to complete; mistakes happen more often, and reaction times are slower. It can lead to difficulties in managing emotions and behaviour, and in being able to cope with change.
Good-quality sleep:
- Supports a healthy balance of the hormones that make you feel hungry or full.
-Affects how your body reacts to insulin, sleep deficiency results in a higher-than-normal blood sugar level, which may raise your risk of diabetes.
- Supports healthy growth and development: Deep sleep triggers the body to release the hormone that promotes normal growth, boosts muscle mass and helps repair cells and tissues, it also plays a role in puberty and fertility.
- Affects your body’s ability to fight germs and sickness if you are sleep deficient, you may have trouble fighting common infections.
-Decreases your risk of health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and stroke.
sleep hygiene
Improving your sleep hygiene will improve the quality of your sleep, here are some simple tips:
Don’t go to bed hungry. Some of the issues that can result include,
Weight gain. (Depriving yourself of food may make it more difficult to exercise good judgment in your food choices).
Loss of muscle mass. (In deep sleep, your body goes into full repair and restoration mode, when there isn’t enough fuel to do this, we risk losing muscle mass while we sleep).
Less energy. (During deep sleep, we are still performing multiple bodily functions, all needing energy.).
Mood swings. (The effect that not eating has on mood has to do with fluctuating serotonin levels. When you go extended periods without eating, the resulting drop can make you extra grumpy).
Low Blood Sugar. (By going to bed on an empty stomach, your blood sugar level may drop. Even in healthy people, low blood sugar levels negatively affect sleep).
Low insulin levels. (These may negatively influence sleep as it often affects the levels of your hormones, ghrelin, and leptin.
Don’t use alcohol to sleep. Drinking alcohol before bed can increase the suppression of REM sleep during the first two cycles.
Avoid nicotine before bed. Nicotine is an addictive chemical that is a stimulant and can reach the brain within seconds.
Ensure that bedroom clocks are not visible. Anxiety about not getting enough sleep gets worse by looking at the clock and worrying about how little time you have left to sleep!
Establish a consistent sleep schedule. Set a specific time to wake up and go to bed each day. This will help regulate your body's internal clock.
Reduce your caffeine intake. Especially close to bedtime. Caffeine disrupts your circadian rhythm and makes it difficult to fall asleep at night. It is also a diuretic, which means it can increase the frequency of urination during the night.
Incorporate regular exercise into your routine. Engaging in physical activity can help alleviate psychological and physiological symptoms, leading to a more restful night's sleep.
Reduce exposure to blue light. Electronic devices generate blue light which can interfere with your body's natural sleep-wake cycle.
Eliminate light from the bedroom. Creating a darker environment has been shown to improve glucose metabolism.
Engage in relaxation practices. Such as yoga or meditation before bedtime to clear your mind and promote relaxation.
Try this
Here’s a simple, quick process to try if you’re having trouble getting to sleep.
In the first person (that is, from your own point of view) review the day or the incident that is playing on your mind. Take no more than 5 minutes.
Go through this process again in the third person (i.e. from the perspective of a neutral observer watching everything including yourself) from a short distance away.
The next bit is the important bit:
Give your unconscious mind permission to review and make sense of what happened while you sleep.
Give yourself permission to let go and let your unconscious deal with it while you sleep.
As you lay back with your head on the pillow, extend your arm with your hand above your face.
Allow your arm to slowly bend and lower your hand toward your face only a quickly as you are ready to let go. Tell yourself that when your hand touches your face, you can let go and pass the ruminations to your unconscious mind, (if you’re having trouble with saying this to yourself, just pretend and say it anyway).
As your hand touches your face, allow your eyes to close and allow yourself to drift off to sleep.
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