Sleep

 

We know the importance of sleep but it is now a modern age problem with old and young. Even the young is not spared after a hectic day of screen times with games or watching videos, the relentless swap of videos after videos, then its like falling into a rabbit's hole, scrolling deep and deeper, deeper than you can come back up.

Scientists found that the brain literally starts eating itself when it doesn't get enough sleep.

New research reveals a troubling link between chronic sleep deprivation and long-term brain damage.

Scientists studying sleep-deprived mice discovered that prolonged lack of sleep causes the brain’s immune cells—astrocytes and microglia—to go into overdrive.

Astrocytes, which normally prune away unnecessary synapses, began breaking down more brain connections and debris, while microglia, responsible for clearing damaged cells, showed heightened activity. Although these processes may initially serve a protective role, overactivation of these cells has been linked to neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

These findings shed light on why chronic sleep loss is increasingly associated with heightened risk of dementia and cognitive decline. Sleep is a vital state for brain maintenance—it clears toxic waste, consolidates memory, and reinforces crucial neural connections.

Without it, the brain's restorative systems falter, impairing attention, memory, and emotional stability. As Alzheimer’s deaths have surged 50% since 1999, understanding sleep’s role in brain health has never been more critical. This research underscores the urgent need to prioritize sleep not just for daily function, but as a safeguard for long-term neurological health.

This is a powerful reminder: your brain needs sleep to survive and thrive.

#SleepScience #BrainHealth #MentalWellness #AlzheimersAwareness #Neuroscience #HealthFacts #SleepMatters #CognitiveHealth #ScienceExplained #StayInformed #ScienceAlert

Why do you wake up at night?

Why do you wake up at night? | Barry Krakow | TEDxABQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izgtCxsLVd0

Why do you wake up at night?  What causes these awakenings that prevent sleeping through the night? How do these middle of the night interruptions lead to insomnia, the prolonged episodes where you desperately desire sleep yet cannot catch one wink let alone forty?  Most insomniacs imagine stress, an overactive mind, or a genetic background causes this vexing sleep loss. Remarkably, these questions had never been researched until Dr. Barry Krakow and his colleagues conducted a study on 20 classic insomniacs, all of whom believed their problems were due to stress, racing thoughts or a genetic predisposition. In a landmark study, published in the journal SLEEP, they demonstrated 90% of awakenings experienced by these insomniacs were preceded by a disruption in their breathing while asleep. In effect, they found a major, and likely primary, cause for why people wake up at night and have continued to research and demonstrate this physiological breathing problem in thousands of insomnia patients.  A lifelong insomniac, Barry Krakow was fortunate to gain seven years of blessed relief—four years in medical school and three at UNM School of Medicine, completing an internal medicine residency. Soon after, divine providence guided him to a sleep medicine career as a clinical specialist and sleep researcher, studying and treating chronic nightmare and insomnia patients at Maimonides Sleep Arts & Sciences, sleep medical center, and Sleep & Human Health Institute, sleep research facility. In the 1990s, Dr. Krakow learned first-hand how unwanted bouts of sleeplessness (insomnia) were not caused solely by the standard explanations found in nearly all medical and psychological textbooks. Insomnia was far more complex and ultimately proved to be intricately linked to sleep breathing problems. Since then, his quarter of a century quest to map out connections between insomnia and sleep-disordered breathing yielded results beyond anything he would have dreamed possible.

How To Trick Your Brain Into Falling Asleep

How To Trick Your Brain Into Falling Asleep | Jim Donovan | TEDxYoungstown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5dE25ANU0k

Jim Donovan M.Ed. is a professional musician, Assistant Professor at Saint Francis University and TEDx speaker. His mission is to share the healing power of music through education and performance. He specializes in placing music and wellness programs in organizations who focus on people with disabilities and people recovering from addiction. Donovan performs with his band Sun King Warriors and was a founding member of the 3-time platinum band Rusted Root. There he co-wrote the song “Send Me on My Way” featured in the movie Ice Age and became the first song on Mars where it “woke up” NASA’s Mars Rover. Jim Donovan M.Ed. is a professional musician and Assistant Professor at Saint Francis University. His mission is to share the healing power of music through education and performance. He specializes in placing music and wellness programs in organizations who focus on people with disabilities and people recovering from addiction. Donovan performs with his band Sun King Warriors and was a founding member of the 3-time platinum band Rusted Root. There he co-wrote the song “Send Me on My Way” featured in the movie Ice Age and became the first song on Mars where it “woke up” NASA’s Mars Rover.

Jim taught using a drumming exercise, to the speed of ticking clock, right, left, right, left, slow down to count of 4 to breath in and breath out. The body will be very relax after a few minutes and sleep will set in.

Good try !