NO DREAMS ……… Dementia Risk ? Suffering From Memory Problems …. ?
Worldwide, 47.5 million people are living with dementia. This is expected to increase to 75.6 million by 2030 and more than triple by 2050, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Dementia is not a disease in itself but rather is a term used to describe a number of different brain illnesses that may affect your memory, thinking, behavior and ability to perform everyday activities. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, which accounts for 60 percent to 80 percent of cases.
Regardless of the state of your sleep cycle or frequency of dreams, if your memory slips often enough that you've wondered if something could be wrong, you may want to consider switching to a high-fat, moderate-protein and low-net-carb ketogenic diet. This is crucial for protecting your brain health and is recommended for virtually everyone, but especially for those who have concerns about their brain health.
World Health Organization March 2015
Alzheimer’s Association, What Is Dementia?
Each night, your body progresses through five stages of sleep. In stage one, light sleep, you prepare to drift off to sleep. A pre-deep sleep phase is next, during which your brain wave activity becomes rapid and rhythmic while your body temperature drops and heart rate slows. In stage three, you begin to transition from light sleep to deep sleep, and in stage four, delta sleep, you enter deep sleep. In stage five, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep occurs, which is when most dreaming happens.
There is still much to be understood when it comes to REM Sleep, but it's known to be involved in storing memories, learning and mood. It makes up, on average, about 25 percent of your total sleep cycle, but there are individual variations. It turns out that these variations may play a role in your health.
Less REM Sleep May Act as a Predictor of Dementia Risk
People who suffer from dementia often have sleep disturbances, but it's unknown which comes first, the dementia or the sleep problems. Using data from the Framingham Heart Study, researchers from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia tracked the sleep cycle of 321 men and women. Over the course of up to 19 years, the participants were then followed for signs of dementia.
A link was found between REM sleep and dementia risk. Among those whose REM sleep made up 20 percent of their sleep cycle, no one developed dementia. Those whose REM sleep totaled 17 percent of REM sleep, however, had a much greater dementia risk. Study author Matthew Pase told WebMD, "We found that persons experiencing less REM sleep over the course of a night displayed an increased risk of developing dementia in the future."
Specifically, for each 1 percent drop in REM sleep, participants' risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease increased by about 9 percent.
"More REM sleep may help protect connections in the brain, which become damaged with dementia. On the other hand, lower REM sleep may result from other factors like chronic stress or undiagnosed sleep disorders, which may independently increase risk for dementia."
It's also been suggested that less REM sleep may alter levels of beta-amyloid, a protein linked to Alzheimer disease , in the brain. Chronic poor sleepers tend to have higher levels of beta-amyloid in the brain, which in turn makes it more difficult to sleep, leading to a vicious cycle of sleep troubles and, perhaps, increase dementia risk. REM sleep is also linked to brain health in that it's known to stimulate regions important for learning.
· National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep
Sleeping Patterns Have Many Links to Dementia Risk
Sleep, whether too much or too little, plays an important role in brain health. Those who sleep for more than nine hours a night consistently, for instance, had a sixfold greater risk of developing dementia in the next 10 years compared to those who slept less. Long sleep duration was also associated with smaller brain volume and poorer executive function, which suggests prolonged sleep duration may be a marker of early neurodegeneration, the researchers said.
Too little sleep has also been linked to dementia, perhaps because your brain’s waste removal system only operates during deep sleep. By pumping cerebral spinal fluid through your brain's tissues, the glymphatic system flushes the waste from your brain back into your body's circulatory system.
From there, the waste eventually reaches your liver, where it's ultimately eliminated. The clincher is that this system ramps up its activity during sleep, thereby allowing your brain to clear out toxins, including harmful proteins linked to Alzheimer's. During sleep, the glymphatic system becomes 10 times more active than during wakefulness.
Simultaneously, your brain cells shrink by about 60 percent, allowing for greater efficiency of waste removal. German researchers further noted that sleep disturbances, including those that occur before cognitive decline, may be modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer's disease, requiring increased attention in research.
They noted, "Sleep disturbances not only occur before the onset of typical cognitive deficits but are also associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and may have a decisive influence on the symptoms and course."
· Nature Neuroscience July 2015, Volume 18, Number 7
· Science 18 October 2013: 342(6156); 373-377
· Nervenarzt. 2017 Mar;88(3):215-221.
How to Increase REM Sleep
If you regularly have trouble sleeping, there's a good chance your REM sleep is being affected. Melatonin is an important hormone produced by your body's pineal gland. One of its primary roles is regulating your body's circadian rhythm. REM sleep, in turn, is "strongly circadian modulated," which means if your circadian rhythm is optimized, so, too, may be your REM sleep.
Interestingly, research has shown that melatonin (3 milligrams daily, taken between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. for four weeks) led to significant increases in REM sleep percentage among people with reduced REM sleep duration.
Before considering melatonin supplementation, however, especially for mild sleep disturbances, it makes sense to engage in habits that will increase your natural melatonin production and improve overall health. The tips that follow may help to boost your melatonin and optimize your circadian rhythm, thereby potentially improving your percentage of REM sleep as well.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Jan;89(1):128-34.
Your thoughts …………………?
The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional Neurologist with interest in sleep disorders , advice .All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensue discussion or debate.
Thank you … there is something deeply sacred about the sleep event/ cycle - it takes one out of the reality of existence and transports the cognitive alertness into another world of mattresses and sheets and blankets/ coverlets - this is a different reality - seemingly, eternal while awakeness has an ephemeral transient life - sleep is similar to death - the only difference is that you wake upon from sleep - dreams are the stage that the dream work takes place in - the residues from the previous awake daytime are often replayed - the anxiety and fears that people the stress in your life are catharticaly shaped into images of fear or ridicule - keep a dream diary next to your bed - read books on dream interpretation like Freud/ Jung - prepare your self for the crossing of the river of the day into night –
We must conduct our actions in relaxing the mind, meditation, being social, having friends, gratitude, empathy, love to people, and life, all of it, runs a spring of crystal clear water, cleanses our mind, and leads us to a deep and restful sleep. It is terrible that the industrialized society, depleted and dehumanized, leads to: multiple pathologies, related to the quality of sleep.
Dayal Ram ….Owner and operator of Sleep Disorder Laboratory.( Min of Health Lic).
Can assist you setting up your own Screening Lab for Sleep Disorders and Depression Testing.
Recomment Private Hospitals or Clinics.