So far, experiments concerning “nighttime toxic-waste disposal” of the brain are limited to mice (detoxification of the brain during sleep). At present, the scientist Maiken Nedergaard is waiting for permission to repeat her experiments with human beings. She assumes that here similar processes like with mice take place. With a great likelihood sooner or later a similar brain-detoxification-system by sleep can be verified in us humans. Already with this assumption sleep is further gaining importance in connection with brain diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s. Specifically we are talking about prevention of possible brain diseases with sufficient and healthy sleep.
However, the initial situation of the popularity is disillusioning. Already 47 % of the global population is suffering under sleep disturbances and no longer recreational sleep. Only this enlarges the risk of becoming ill with dementia and Alzheimer’s when getting older. Furthermore, 80 % of the adults and an increasing proportion of children and adolescents suffer under a chronical sleep debt with unforeseeable consequences. From this point of view, it is even more important to render conscious to the fact that sleep is the most important pillar of health. Long since, a nature-like change of our sleeping culture is overdue (optimization of the sleep-healthy-trio: holistic sleeping-system, disturbance-free sleeping place, balanced bed-room climate). Out of other studies it is largely known that chronical lack of sleep and persistent sleep disturbances are threatening our health of body, mind and soul and support the development of numerous health disturbances and diseases of body and soul.
Within the German speaking area with a population of about 100 million already more than 20 million people are older than 65 years. The topic memory disorder, dementia, Alzheimer’s etc. is going to be a serious problem for this group. Above all, when there is an already existing predisposition (genetically caused susceptibility for formation of diseases) combined with a constant lack of sleep and sleep disturbances. If the model out of the “mice-study” comes true with the human being, it would throw a different light on the increasing rate of Alzheimer’s. Then, chronical lack of sleep and disturbed sleep would be co-responsible for the distribution of degenerative brain-diseases like never before.
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