
The brain may clean out Alzheimer’s plaques during sleep - mmazzarolo
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/sleep-brain-alzheimers-plaques-protein
======
melling
So, if Bill Gates gets his early detection method soon, people can start to
get some Ambien induced extra sleep and monitor their progress.

[https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/A-better-way-of-
diagnosing...](https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/A-better-way-of-diagnosing-
Alzheimers)

~~~
LeonB
The best way to improve sleep is CBTI, definitely not Ambien. Ambien doesn’t
induce sleep. It induces a non waking state.

~~~
internet_user
Maybe not quite Ambien, but have you ever had propofol sedation?

~~~
russh
Best nap of my life.

------
axl
Something else to consider - what if the reason these plaques are unable to be
cleaned out in some is the result of a life (decades)-long “deep” sleep
deprivation (i.e, still getting sleep but not a good amount of regular, deep
sleep where this cleaning process would normally occur), and the reason for
this chronic sleep deprivation was some genetic pre-disposition, such as
bruxism, which would cause little to no “deep sleep,” or perhaps brought on
form of chronic dehydration due to a genetic predisposition for diabetes /
sugary drinks / blood sugar imbalance, causing brain fogginess rather than
deep sleep during a period of involuntary fasting, or a myriad of other
unnoticeable deep- sleep-depriving illnesses?

I am not suggesting I have any answers; only questions and curiosities for the
puzzling subject.

~~~
PSZD
You're just considering "involuntary" lack of sleep, when there seems to be a
serious epidemic of voluntary sleeplessness as indicated by frequent boasting
about how little sleep one can get by on.

~~~
rusk
Both Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher boasted of how little they needed to
sleep. But two data points but highly salient ones.

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
Donald Trump too.

~~~
rusk
Yeah but he's probably making it up.

------
snikeris
This was discussed in a Joe Rogan podcast w/ a sleep expert:

[http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/matthew-
walker](http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/matthew-walker)

I learned a lot, and it changed my sleep behaviors.

~~~
fnwx17
I've almost completely switched to decaf coffee (which still has 15-30% the
amount of caffeine normally found in regular coffee) after reading "Why Do We
Sleep" by Matthew Walker.

And half of the office here is either reading it now or wants to start reading
it

~~~
citrablue
The American standard for decaf coffee is to remove 97% of caffeine
content[0]. (Note - I couldn't find specific CFRs on an official government
site, so it's possible this is just a recommendation and not actually
enforced. However, a quick google will confirm that this is the consensus on
how things are supposed to operate - I make no comment on how they actually
operate.)

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeination#Caffeine_conten...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeination#Caffeine_content_of_decaffeinated_coffee)

------
neuromantik8086
This isn't actually a particularly new idea- Barbara Oakley's Coursera course
("Learning How to Learn") actually cites another researcher (name forgotten)
in the same field working with similar sets of theoretical assumptions.

------
asdf1234tx
"poor sleep causes ..." or does it?

"... causes poor sleep" or does it?

Which one is it? Neither yet both?

Come on folks, we learned this in 3rd grade. The real answer is "it's
complicated".

~~~
LeonB
It’s likely that both are true. It’s likely to be a bi-directional
relationship.

------
internet_user
The scientist that developed treatment for narcolepsy (GHB supposedly
normalizes sleep), he is currently investigating GHB in dementia patients:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16837107](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16837107)

------
Krowbart
Or, those that know how to manage their time and get enough sleep are those
with healthy brains.

Causality? No, just jumping to conclusions like this article.

------
marvel_boy
That explains the relation between Alzheimer and sleeping disorders.

~~~
cpncrunch
No it doesnt. Read the article...causality is still unvlear.

~~~
notaharvardmba
Let's walk through this: People who are insomniacs are more likely to get less
sleep. Could this same group also more likely to take anticholinergic sleep
drugs (diphenhydramine)? There is a good link starting to be established
between those drugs and dementias of all types. See
[https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar...](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2091745),
or a bloggy summary if you're so inclined:
[https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/common-
anticholinergic-d...](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/common-
anticholinergic-drugs-like-benadryl-linked-increased-dementia-
risk-201501287667)

The link is alarming enough you should think seriously before taking things
like Zzzquil, Benadryl, Tylenol PM, etc. if you value your mental faculties..
But maybe the correlation in this article is at least partially explained by
this other link. Personally the other theories (brain garbage collection
during sleep, etc.) also make a lot of sense. And don't forget about the
fungal theory:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24614898](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24614898)

~~~
toast0
Diphenhydramine is an anti-hystimine, that happens to make you drowsy (it's
also a mild anti-depresent, which lead to somr targetted anti-depresents).

~~~
loa-in-backup
I guess it's a complex organic molecule with multiple interactions

