Common sleep aid may disrupt system that clears brain waste linked to Alzheimer's

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Posted on 01/14/2025 1:48:40 PM PST by ConservativeMind

Sleep disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea can significantly impact health and quality of life. Poor sleep often precedes the onset of neurodegenerative diseases and is a predictor of early dementia.

Research describes for the first time the tightly synchronized oscillations in the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, cerebral blood, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that combine during non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep in mice.

These oscillations power the glymphatic system—a brain-wide network responsible for removing protein waste, including amyloid and tau, associated with neurodegenerative diseases.

The study also holds a warning for people who use the commonly prescribed sleep aid zolpidem. The drug suppressed the glymphatic system, potentially setting the stage for neurological disorders like Alzheimer's, which are the result of the toxic accumulation of proteins in the brain.

Unlike previous research, which immobilized the mice and used anesthesia to induce sleep, the new approach allowed researchers to record brain activity during long, uninterrupted periods of wakefulness and sleep while allowing mice to move freely during recordings.

The research highlights the critical role of norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter associated with arousal, attention, and the body's response to stress.

The team observed that slow synchronized waves of norepinephrine, cerebral blood volume, and CSF flow characterized non-REM sleep. The norepinephrine triggered "micro-arousals," causing vasomotion, the rhythmic constriction of blood vessels independent of the heartbeat. This oscillation, in turn, generates the pumping action necessary to move CSF in the glymphatic system during sleep.

The study also explored whether sleep aids replicate the natural oscillations necessary for glymphatic function. The team focused on zolpidem, a sedative marketed under the name Ambien, which is prescribed to treat insomnia.

While zolpidem effectively induced sleep in the mice, it also suppressed norepinephrine oscillations, disrupting the glymphatic system and impeding the brain's waste-clearing processes, a finding that raises concerns about long-term use.

(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...

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Ambien (zolpidem) appears to create longer-term issues by preventing removal of brain cellular waste, which a big concern with dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases.

To: Mazey; ckilmer; goodnesswins; Jane Long; jy8z; ProtectOurFreedom; matthew fuller; telescope115; ...

2 posted on 01/14/2025 1:49:11 PM PST by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)

To: ConservativeMind

3 posted on 01/14/2025 1:53:58 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)

To: ConservativeMind

4 posted on 01/14/2025 1:55:39 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (They were the FA-est of times, they were the FO-est of times.)

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