Sleep Helps Your Brain Repair Itself

At one time or another, everybody has bouts of sleeplessness. House noises, screaming babies, caffeine, or a bed partner who snores, often make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. Eventually, you learn to limit the amount of coffee you drink, the screaming babies grow up, and the snoring bed partner, well ... still snores. Other causes of chronic sleeplessness are sleep apnea, acid reflux, jet lag, swing-shift employment, and ongoing stress that causes sleeplessness. 

Discoveries made by Oregon Health and Science University researchers show that sleep deprivation increases the risk of Dementia later in life and may quicken its progression for those who already have the disease.1 Their data show that insufficient sleep increases the production of beta-amyloid proteins that compose the plaques associated with various kinds of Dementia.1

Taking a different approach, the University of California Berkeley Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab researchers have evidence demonstrating the importance of deep non-REM (rapid eye movement) sleep in preventing memory loss. 2 The deep non-REM sleep phase, among other functions, appears to prevent the buildup of beta-amyloid proteins. Their work shows there is a correlation between the accumulation of beta-amyloid proteins, sleep disorders, and Alzheimer disease. 2
Also, insufficient sleep is a risk factor associated with other health conditions that include obesity, heart disease, and diabetes - all of which increase the likelihood of Dementia later in life.

What to do??
First of all, remember that risk factors do not cause disease but increase the likelihood of having Dementia sometime in the future. Second, and most importantly, modifying behaviors and habits associated with dementia, such as smoking and obesity, can reduce risk.

Sufficient sleep depends on the age of the individual. For adults, seven to 10 hours of sleep per night is considered healthy. 3  However, for adults older than 65-years of age, six to eight hours of sleep per night is both normal and healthy. 3
Many older people, believing less than 8 hours of sleep per night, is abnormal, resort to using sleeping pills. Unfortunately, using medication to assure sleep both increases the risk for dementia and worsens Dementia for those who have the disease.

People acquire habits and behaviors that unknowingly make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. The National Sleep Foundation offers the following tips to get a good night’s sleep.3

⦁ Stick to a sleep schedule – even on the weekends.
⦁ Develop a relaxing routine to prepare your body for sleep. 
⦁ Use your bed only for sleep and sex. 
⦁ If you have trouble sleeping, avoid afternoon and early evening naps.
⦁ Exercise daily.
⦁ Make the room where you sleep comfortable and free from disturbing noise or other distractions. 
⦁ Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows. 
⦁ Avoid alcohol, cigarettes, and heavy meals in the evening. 
⦁ Wind down - an hour before bed, choose a calming activity such as reading. 
⦁ If you can't sleep, go into another room and do something relaxing or immensely boring until you feel sleepy. 

Notes:
1. How a lack of sleep can increase YOUR risk of dementia: Lack of rest prevents the brain from clearing out toxins that trigger Alzheimer's', http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3387246/How-lack-sleep-increase-risk-dementia-Lack-rest-prevents-brain-clearing-toxins-trigger-Alzheimer-s.html (accessed May 17, 2016)
2. Lack of Sleep May Lead to Dementia: New Research Finds It Makes Brain Vulnerable, http://alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/just-in/2015-06-02/lack-sleep-may-lead-dementia-new-research-finds-it-makes (accessed May 17, 2016)
3. Healthy Sleep Tips, https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-tools-tips/healthy-sleep-tips (accessed May 17, 2016)

Contributor: Janet Yagoda Shagam, Ph.D., is a freelance medical and science writer and the author of “An Unintended Journey: A Caregiver's Guide to Dementia.” Available through Amazon. 

The opinions expressed by contributing authors are not necessarily the opinions of the Dementia Society, Inc. We do not endorse or guarantee products, comments, suggestions, links, or other forms of content within blog posts provided to us with permission or otherwise. Dementia Society does not provide medical advice. Please consult your doctor. www.DementiaSociety.org

A Word of Caution About Sleep Aids and Medication

Sleep is a critical aspect of overall brain health. Today there are countless individuals that have trouble with attaining sleep, maintaining sleep, and sometimes a combination of both. As a result, millions are turning to sleep aids. 

Many sleep issues, in some form or another, are related to anxiety.   

It’s easy to understand. A lot of people lay down, intending to go to bed, and they have the wheels turning in their mind as they’re engaged in thinking about their to-do lists, relationships, finances, or their career.  

Some of the more common, albeit older, sleep aids come from a class of medications called benzodiazepines. These medications were originally designed to treat anxiety and panic disorders. Lorazepam (Ativan®), one of the most common, many are now taking for sleep issues.  

These drugs essentially ramp down the mind a little bit, which then allows you to obtain sleep and remain asleep. There are also the more common sleep aid medications that were designed for sleep problems, like Ambien® or Lunesta®.  

Most are aware of these prescription medications due to clever ad campaigns that are meant to create associations in your memory.   

While there is absolutely a time and place for sleep medications, by and large, they are incredibly over-utilized in most cases as they are designed to be short-term solutions and most often become long-term traps that have consequences on brain function.

One of the most overlooked factors is sleep hygiene. 

Factors like weight, sleeping environment, computer time, eating before bed, stress management and so many others have a profound impact on our sleep.

The bottom line is that we need to change our mindset. When we see that we can, in fact, get to sleep on our own after implementing sound sleep hygiene methods, this is an incredibly powerful first step to be able to move into sleep on your own and to take the dependence off of pills or supplements.  

When it comes to sleep issues related to stress management, there are a wide variety of tools available at your disposal. If anxiety or poor stress management is an issue that is related to obtaining quality sleep, a good first step is to try journaling. The simple act of putting words on paper can help get the stressors out of your mind and onto paper. This can eventually help prepare you to take the next step toward more advanced techniques.

Contributor: Dr. Michael Trayford is a Board-Certified Chiropractic Neurologist and Founder of APEX Brain Centers in Asheville, NC. For more information, please visit www.ApexBrainCenters.com/memory.

The opinions expressed by contributing authors are not necessarily the opinions of the Dementia Society, Inc. We do not endorse or guarantee products, comments, suggestions, links, or other forms of the content contained within blog posts that have been provided to us with permission, or otherwise. Dementia Society does not provide medical advice. Please consult your doctor. www.DementiaSociety.org

Make Your Bed

On the surface, the idea of making your bed might seem mundane. However, there are significant benefits to making your bed each morning. Many successful organizations, including the military and Psychology Today, have looked at the benefits that making your bed has for the brain.

It’s something that a lot of people often leave behind. You wake up, the room is dark, you take a quick shower, and go about your day. Then you come home at night and you see a big pile of blankets and sheets right in the middle of the bed and you accept that it still needs to be made. Sometimes it can even be a little bit stressful to not have your bed made when all you want to do is go to sleep.

There is mounting evidence to support the fact that making the bed in the morning contributes towards making a person happier and more successful. A recent online survey of 68,000 people, which is a fairly substantial base of people, found that 59% of people don’t make their beds and 27% do. The remaining 12% were people that have someone else, like a housekeeper, make their bed for them.

They also found that 71% of the bed makers consider themselves to be generally happy with their lives. 62% of non-bed makers admitted to being generally unhappy. Of course these results can vary by the life circumstances of the individual. It can extend to their job satisfaction, owning a home, exercising regularly, proper diet, feeling well rested. These things are all associated with people that fix their beds every day.

There is basis behind fixing your bed each morning. What happens is you wake up and right away you’re training your brain to do a task and attend to an activity that makes you feel good. As a result, you start your day with a sense of accomplishment. This sets the tone for the rest of your day and carries over to completing other tasks. It is the start of the snow ball effect that encourages you to keep a proactive attitude throughout the rest of your day.

When you stop and think about it, it only takes a couple of minutes in the morning to stop and make your bed. Start developing the habit, stick with it, and see what happens. I guarantee, it will help to start your day off on the right foot, because it’s the little things that make a difference.

Contributor Author: Dr. Michael Trayford is a Board Certified Chiropractic Neurologist and Founder of APEX Brain Centers in Asheville, NC. For more information, please visit www.ApexBrainCenters.com/memory.

The opinions expressed by contributing authors are not necessarily the opinions of the Dementia Society, Inc. We do not endorse nor guarantee products, comments, suggestions, links, or other forms of content contained within blog posts- that have been provided to us with permission, or otherwise. Dementia Society does not provide medical advice, please consult your doctor. www.DementiaSociety.org