2013 was a great year for learning about sleep, our brains and how sleep affects our well-being. Many of us already think we know the answer: "Ugh. My life sucks without enough sleep and I feel terrible. I wander around in a funk and am completely unproductive."
Yes, all true, but let's take a quick review of what researchers learned as it pertains to sleep and see if there's anything new there to benefit us.
First and foremost of the sleep and brain studies was data showing our brains use sleep to eliminate garbage. That's right. During sleep,
the brain rids itself of waste.
Here's the thing: scientists have known for years that the brain doesn't directly use the lymphatic system (the body's main filter and waste dumping system) to eliminate its toxic waste. Instead, our sleeping mind uses cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to flush out neurotoxins via pathways separate from the lymphatic system. And by the way, we may find out this is important to avoiding the plague of our seniors, because among the toxins flushed is beta amyloid, which is a protein identified as related to Alzheimer's Disease.
Added to this information in 2013, the discovery by researchers (led by University of Rochester neurosurgeon Maiken Nedergaard) of "hidden caves" that open in the brain while we sleep, allowing the cerebrospinal fluid to flush neurotoxins out through the spinal column.
This research may mean failing to get enough sleep isn't just annoying, doesn't just make you grumpy; it also may be a factor in developing neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's Disease, which of course, we are all desperate to avoid. If you want to stay in your right mind, give your mind the chance to right itself by flushing out toxins with regular sleep.
Stress is also a huge factor in a healthy night's rest and health in general, as we all know, but in 2013, it was confirmed as a factor in cancer growth and recovery.
The research here didn't show that stress causes cancer, but according to the study by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, once cancer has taken hold, stress biochemically feeds the growth of cancerous cells. The study was done using prostate cancer in mice, but it has implications for all cancers in other organisms, such as you and me.
No studies on this, but pretty sure we all agree that if you get more sleep, you'll cope with your stress better.
I saved the easiest-to-swallow information for last:
coffee, chocolate and the caffeine link.
I'm not a coffee drinker myself, but let's look at the research. And there's a plethora of it. "Coffee is good for you!" "Coffee is bad for you." "Two cups a day will stunt your growth." "Anything more than two cups a day may be addictive." Researchers seem to love to talk about the morning cup as much as some people like to drink it.
But in 2013, Harvard School of Public Health did a meta-review. You know what that is, right? A review of the data collected during other studies that shows or leads to entirely other helpful or dark conclusions. This particular meta-study was a look back at three extensive U.S. health studies that included 43,599 men and 164,825 women to find that coffee accounted for the 71% of caffeine consumed.
Then they looked at causes of death during the study period: 277 suicides.
The analysis found the risk of suicide among adults drinking 2-4 cups of coffee (400 mg of caffeine) was 50% lower than for adults drinking decaffeinated coffee, or one cup or less of caffeinated coffee. Over-serving, drinking more than 4 cups of coffee, didn't further decrease the suicide risk. The study didn't note whether the average 4+cup caffeine addicts would make one feel like a rat in a maze.
By the way, the caffeine makes sense, because it's mimicking a brain chemical called adenosine that acts as a "checks and balances" chemical made by neurons as they fire throughout the day. Producing adenosime or drinking caffeine helps the nervous system to ratchet down activity, until we eventually fall asleep and then, about 8 hours later, we reboot.
Using the science to our own benefit can only be the smart thing to do, particularly as it relates to sleep and the brain.
And hopefully, we'll all sleep better in 2014.
