Best sleeping position to prevent Alzheimer’s, ALS

On your back, face down, on your side – what position do you usually sleep in when you nap or go to bed?

A pre-clinical study suggests how how we sleep, particularly when we are on our side (also known as side sleeping), can help flush waste from the brain while we sleep. This waste removal is essential for performing brain functions like problem solving, reasoning, and paying attention to detail—along with keeping your brain healthy.

Researchers from Australia specifically wanted to know how the glymphatic system, a network of vessels that helps remove waste in the brain, can prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common motor neuron disease affecting nerve cells in the spinal cord. People diagnosed with ALS can gradually lose their ability to speak, eat, move, and breathe.

The glymphatic system and its role in brain clearance

When you sleep too little or not at all, brain cells called neurons use up large amounts of energy. When this happens, neurons shed debris that can swim around in the brain and prevent it from functioning normally. This debris — made up of leftover proteins — can later form clumps that are toxic to the brain.

Accumulation of these protein types (including amyloid beta) has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and dementia.

Natalie Dautovich, PhD, a National Sleep Foundation environmental grantee and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, told SeniorsMatter the glymphatic system is the brain’s “housekeeper” and key to eliminating waste in the brain. The system is also most active while we sleep. However, she said when we are sleep deprived, the system is largely inactive, allowing neural waste to build up.

“The glymphatic system uses cerebral spinal fluid to flush neural waste products out of the brain,” she said. “Recent, cutting-edge research suggests that sleep is critical to creating the optimal environment for this ‘brainwashing’.”

Additionally, research conducted in rodents has found that glymphatic clearance is most efficient in the lateral (or side-sleeping) position, compared to supine (lying on your back) or prone (lying on your front) according to associate professor David Wright, PhD. . in the Department of Neuroscience at Monash University.

The reasons why certain positions are more effective at helping the glymphatic system clear brain waste are not fully understood at this time, but could potentially be due to “the effects of gravity, compression, and stretching of tissue,” Wright added added.

How To Improve Glymphatic System Function (In Addition To Sleep)

Although experts are still learning about the role of the glymphatic system in neural function, there are small lifestyle changes that can improve brain waste clearance and minimize the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases. According to Wright, some of these changes include:

• Moderate alcohol consumption – Exposure to moderate amounts of alcohol has been shown in mouse studies to increase lymphatic function, while high doses of alcohol had the opposite effect.
• Exercise – Regular exercise has also been found to improve memory and cognition in neurodegenerative diseases and may support glymphatic clearance.
• Taking Certain Vitamins – Research shows that omega-3 or fish oil pills can help promote protein removal from the brain and have a positive impact on glymphatic function.

While these are worth considering, Wright said more research is needed “to focus on therapies that target the glymphatic system directly to help those already suffering from these debilitating diseases.”

What else you need to know about the course

To answer the role of the glymphatic system in preventing ALS, Wright and his colleagues turned to mice.

Some mice have been genetically engineered to express the human protein associated with ALS, a protein called TDP-43. Some mice were fed a diet containing an antibiotic called doxycycline, which allowed the researchers to turn off TDP-43 expression and eventually allowed the mice to age normally. However, when the engineered mice switched to regular food, TDP-43 expression was turned on and toxic proteins began to accumulate.

They found that over time, the genetically modified mice showed classic signs of ALS, including gradual muscle weakness and brain atrophy, a loss of neurons.

“What the study showed is that the ALS brain in the mice actually had decreased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) clearance compared to the normal brain,” said Santosh Kesari, MD, PhD, a neurologist at the Providence Saint John Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif. (who did not participate in the study), SeniorsMatter said.

Decreased clearance of CSF in the brain is believed to contribute to the development of many diseases, including neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

In addition, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the researchers found that the genetically modified mice had a harder time clearing waste from the brain compared to the control mice.

“Our study provides the first evidence that the glymphatic system could be a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of ALS,” Wright wrote in The Conversation. “Sleeping position is also thought to affect glymphatic clearance.”

“The onset of symptoms in ALS is often insidious and diagnosis remains difficult. Therefore, a definitive diagnosis is often delayed and misdiagnosis is common,” he added. “The imaging techniques we use can help physicians make earlier diagnosis, advance treatment and enable earlier enrollment in clinical trials.”