Hey, everybody, welcome to another edition of Wisdom Wednesdays. Today, we're going to do a deep dive into a topic that really underscores just how vital sleep is for our health. And I've talked about it a few times, and we often think of sleep as a time when just our bodies and brains just kind of shut down. But in reality, it's an incredibly active process that is pretty critical for our physical health, our mental health, and our emotional well being. Now, when we sleep, our bodies actually embark on a series of what we can think of as essential maintenance tasks that are vital for our overall health. So one key thing that happens during sleep has released a growth hormone, and everybody will know that, and this hormone is critical for physical repair. It helps us recover from that we're in ter our daily life. It helps to rebuild our muscle, which is turning over continuously, as well as our organs which are turning over, and it supports the healing of any injuries we might have. Now at the same time, our DNA rapper mechanisms kick in. And think of these as little enzymes that run all the way through your body, identifying and fixing damaging sales, including those that might be pre cancers or become pre cancers. So this is one of the body's natural defenses against chronic diseases, including cancer. But also let's think about what's going on in the brain. So I have talked about this previously. During rem sleep, when we're dreaming, the brain actually engages in this memory consolidation, and what researchers thinks happening is that reviews and processes the events of the day and organizes and stores the memories in a way that makes them more accessible and integrated into our overall knowledge base. But what is pretty fascinating about that is that that is the only time in your life when no epinephyrine or no adrenaline, which is the sister chemical of adrenaline in the brain, is actually shut down. So it allows you to replay the day's events but in the absence of stress, and has actually been shown to be really helpful. It's kind of like nightly therapy for the brain. And when you emperor rem sleep, you actually increase people's anxiety. But there's another critical function that takes place in the brain where we're sleep, and this one is less well known, and it's the brain's own self cleaning process called the glymphatic system. Now I have talked about it before, but there's some new research that's come to light. So the glymphatic system was only discovered in twenty thirteen. Right now, we've known for decades and decades that the body gets rid of its toxic waste products with the lymphatic system, but the Brian doesn't have a lymphatic system. And then in twenty thirteen, some genius discovered that the brain actually when we're asleep at night, uses what's called our csf our cerebrospinal fluid to wash away any toxins that accumulate in the brain during the day. So people might think, well, what toxins can accumulate, Well, really, all of our cells are the vast majority of our cells go through a process called aerobic metabolism, so they use oxygen to create energy inside the cell, and there are toxic waste products, and as I said, the cells and the rest of the body dump those waste products into the lymphatic system along with a whole heap of other chunk, and it's cleaned out right. So this glymphatic system is similar stuff going on in the brain, and it's this process is especially effective clearing out these protein aggregates. Kind of think of them as like clumpy bits of protein, like amyloids, which are you may have heard me talk about them before with their implications for neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. So thing of the glymphatic system as the brain's version of a quick spring clean every night, right, and as this cerebral spinal fluid goes through the brain, it's actually flushing out the waste products and keeping our neurons functioning optimally. And the thinking was it kind of hitches a ride down the outside of the glymphatic system. Now, while that sounds relatively straightforward and the reality is much more complex. So there's brain washing if you think about literal brain washing it atmosphere in sleep. But what has really eluded scientists is the understanding of what drives the process exactly and how the waste is moved from deep brian regions and the sales there are past the blood brain barrier into the bloodstream where it can then be filtered out by delivering the kidneys. Now, early this year, there's a series of groundbreaking studies that actually provided some much needed answers, and a geek like me loves this stuff. Now. These studies focused on the role of slow electrical waves, so you might have heard of slow wave of sleep, and they uncovered critical insights in the high the glymphatic system functions by studying these slow electrical waves. So one of the studies was published in February in the journal Nature, and you know, if you get published in Nature, it's a cracking article. And it was published by doctor Jonathan Kipness and his team at Washington University of Saint Louis, and they revealed that individual nerve sales in the Brian coordinate to create a rhythmic electrical waves during sleep, and these waves actually act like tiny pumps moving the fluid through the brain tissue and facilitating the removal of waste, which is really cool shit. And Kipnistic explained this is a quote from me. He says, we knew that sleep is a time when the brain initiates a cleaning process to flush out waste and toxins that accumulates during wakefulness, but we didn't know how that happens. And this study provided the missing piece by showing how these electrical waves coordinated by a bunch of nerve cells actually help to cleanse the brain. But why when I understand how waste is moved through the brain, where there was still a bit of a mystery to solve. So how does this waste cross the blood brain barrier? So the blood brain barrier is exactly this thing. It is a barrier between the brain and the blood and the rest of the body, and it's very selective for what it allows to pass through because obviously your brain is pretty sensitive. So another study from Kipness's group provided the answer. They discovered that structures in the brain were similar to what you think of them as like aner port security checkpoint that actually allows molecules and fluids to pass through what's called the irachnoid barriers a membrane that separates the brain tissue from the bloodstream, and these checkpoints are crucial for waste removal, allowing that cerebral spinal fluid to exit the brain with its toxins and then dumping into the layer's lymph node. And in order to confirm this, the researchers injected mice with these little light emitting molecules what call that you and they observed how the molecules actually passed through the security gates at the blood brain barrier, and then MRI scans of healthy humans can that a similar process happens in our brains, suggesting if these gates become clogged, that could potentially lead to a build up of waste and then potentially contribute to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and other forms of cognitive decline. So understanding the glymphatic system it's not just about satisfying scientists and geeks like me. It has real world implications. So for instance, research by a guy called Jeffrey Illif who was part of the team that discovered the glymphatic system, originally showed that traumatic brain injuries, such as those caused in war or from trauma to the head, can actually imper the glymphatic system, and this empowerment might be a key factor in post concussive symptoms that we see from many veterans, and I would presume have a role in CTE which we're now seeing that's happening in lots of board such as American football, rugby, Aussie rules, and even soccer. So this constant knocks to the brain can actually screw up this system and then accumulate the metabolic damage. And this pretty exciting discovery opens up new possibilities for treating a whole range of neurological conditions. So by targeting this glymphatic system and making sure that it's working really well, we might be able to find ways to alleviate symptoms or even slow the progression of diseases like Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia and CTE in people who are doing sport. So, in conclusion, our brain still has a shit heap of mysteries to cough up, and for me, the discovery of the glymphatic system and this major step forward in understanding how it works, is a really critical piece in the puzzle that brings us closer to developing therapies that could improve the lives of millions and millions of people who are suffering from neurodegenerative diseases and from traumatic brain injury. So that's it for this week. Until next time, make sure that you put a lot of focus on prioritizing your sleep. Catch you next time.
Hey, everybody, welcome to another edition of Wisdom Wednesdays. Today, we're going to do a deep dive into a topic that really underscores just how vital sleep is for our health. And I've talked about it a few times, and we often think of sleep as a time when just our bodies and brains just kind of shut down. But in reality, it's an incredibly active process that is pretty critical for our physical health, our mental health, and our emotional well being. Now, when we sleep, our bodies actually embark on a series of what we can think of as essential maintenance tasks that are vital for our overall health. So one key thing that happens during sleep has released a growth hormone, and everybody will know that, and this hormone is critical for physical repair. It helps us recover from that we're in ter our daily life. It helps to rebuild our muscle, which is turning over continuously, as well as our organs which are turning over, and it supports the healing of any injuries we might have. Now at the same time, our DNA rapper mechanisms kick in. And think of these as little enzymes that run all the way through your body, identifying and fixing damaging sales, including those that might be pre cancers or become pre cancers. So this is one of the body's natural defenses against chronic diseases, including cancer. But also let's think about what's going on in the brain. So I have talked about this previously. During rem sleep, when we're dreaming, the brain actually engages in this memory consolidation, and what researchers thinks happening is that reviews and processes the events of the day and organizes and stores the memories in a way that makes them more accessible and integrated into our overall knowledge base. But what is pretty fascinating about that is that that is the only time in your life when no epinephyrine or no adrenaline, which is the sister chemical of adrenaline in the brain, is actually shut down. So it allows you to replay the day's events but in the absence of stress, and has actually been shown to be really helpful. It's kind of like nightly therapy for the brain. And when you emperor rem sleep, you actually increase people's anxiety. But there's another critical function that takes place in the brain where we're sleep, and this one is less well known, and it's the brain's own self cleaning process called the glymphatic system. Now I have talked about it before, but there's some new research that's come to light. So the glymphatic system was only discovered in twenty thirteen. Right now, we've known for decades and decades that the body gets rid of its toxic waste products with the lymphatic system, but the Brian doesn't have a lymphatic system. And then in twenty thirteen, some genius discovered that the brain actually when we're asleep at night, uses what's called our csf our cerebrospinal fluid to wash away any toxins that accumulate in the brain during the day. So people might think, well, what toxins can accumulate, Well, really, all of our cells are the vast majority of our cells go through a process called aerobic metabolism, so they use oxygen to create energy inside the cell, and there are toxic waste products, and as I said, the cells and the rest of the body dump those waste products into the lymphatic system along with a whole heap of other chunk, and it's cleaned out right. So this glymphatic system is similar stuff going on in the brain, and it's this process is especially effective clearing out these protein aggregates. Kind of think of them as like clumpy bits of protein, like amyloids, which are you may have heard me talk about them before with their implications for neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. So thing of the glymphatic system as the brain's version of a quick spring clean every night, right, and as this cerebral spinal fluid goes through the brain, it's actually flushing out the waste products and keeping our neurons functioning optimally. And the thinking was it kind of hitches a ride down the outside of the glymphatic system. Now, while that sounds relatively straightforward and the reality is much more complex. So there's brain washing if you think about literal brain washing it atmosphere in sleep. But what has really eluded scientists is the understanding of what drives the process exactly and how the waste is moved from deep brian regions and the sales there are past the blood brain barrier into the bloodstream where it can then be filtered out by delivering the kidneys. Now, early this year, there's a series of groundbreaking studies that actually provided some much needed answers, and a geek like me loves this stuff. Now. These studies focused on the role of slow electrical waves, so you might have heard of slow wave of sleep, and they uncovered critical insights in the high the glymphatic system functions by studying these slow electrical waves. So one of the studies was published in February in the journal Nature, and you know, if you get published in Nature, it's a cracking article. And it was published by doctor Jonathan Kipness and his team at Washington University of Saint Louis, and they revealed that individual nerve sales in the Brian coordinate to create a rhythmic electrical waves during sleep, and these waves actually act like tiny pumps moving the fluid through the brain tissue and facilitating the removal of waste, which is really cool shit. And Kipnistic explained this is a quote from me. He says, we knew that sleep is a time when the brain initiates a cleaning process to flush out waste and toxins that accumulates during wakefulness, but we didn't know how that happens. And this study provided the missing piece by showing how these electrical waves coordinated by a bunch of nerve cells actually help to cleanse the brain. But why when I understand how waste is moved through the brain, where there was still a bit of a mystery to solve. So how does this waste cross the blood brain barrier? So the blood brain barrier is exactly this thing. It is a barrier between the brain and the blood and the rest of the body, and it's very selective for what it allows to pass through because obviously your brain is pretty sensitive. So another study from Kipness's group provided the answer. They discovered that structures in the brain were similar to what you think of them as like aner port security checkpoint that actually allows molecules and fluids to pass through what's called the irachnoid barriers a membrane that separates the brain tissue from the bloodstream, and these checkpoints are crucial for waste removal, allowing that cerebral spinal fluid to exit the brain with its toxins and then dumping into the layer's lymph node. And in order to confirm this, the researchers injected mice with these little light emitting molecules what call that you and they observed how the molecules actually passed through the security gates at the blood brain barrier, and then MRI scans of healthy humans can that a similar process happens in our brains, suggesting if these gates become clogged, that could potentially lead to a build up of waste and then potentially contribute to neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and other forms of cognitive decline. So understanding the glymphatic system it's not just about satisfying scientists and geeks like me. It has real world implications. So for instance, research by a guy called Jeffrey Illif who was part of the team that discovered the glymphatic system, originally showed that traumatic brain injuries, such as those caused in war or from trauma to the head, can actually imper the glymphatic system, and this empowerment might be a key factor in post concussive symptoms that we see from many veterans, and I would presume have a role in CTE which we're now seeing that's happening in lots of board such as American football, rugby, Aussie rules, and even soccer. So this constant knocks to the brain can actually screw up this system and then accumulate the metabolic damage. And this pretty exciting discovery opens up new possibilities for treating a whole range of neurological conditions. So by targeting this glymphatic system and making sure that it's working really well, we might be able to find ways to alleviate symptoms or even slow the progression of diseases like Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia and CTE in people who are doing sport. So, in conclusion, our brain still has a shit heap of mysteries to cough up, and for me, the discovery of the glymphatic system and this major step forward in understanding how it works, is a really critical piece in the puzzle that brings us closer to developing therapies that could improve the lives of millions and millions of people who are suffering from neurodegenerative diseases and from traumatic brain injury. So that's it for this week. Until next time, make sure that you put a lot of focus on prioritizing your sleep. Catch you next time.