We often credit doctors who practice medicine and researchers who strive to make new contributions to the field of medicine as knowing far more than they actually do. While they’re generally well-studied and required to perform well in higher academic programs, they certainly don’t know everything.
This is especially true as far as the human brain is concerned. One of many neurological processes that modern medicine has yet to understand completely is that of sleep.
Just looking at sleep from a general point of view, it’s true that sleep is required among all high-functioning animals. Those who can’t sleep end up dying pretty quickly. But why, exactly, do we need sleep, and how does it work, on a biochemical level? These questions have yet to be answered.
One thing that researchers do know about sleep is that there are a few phases, or levels, of sleep that humans go through. Deep sleep, a phase known as rapid eye movement sleep, or REM sleep, is critical for the regular, healthy performance of many human processes, such as cardiovascular function. Recent research published in Science, one of the most highly-regarded peer-reviewed scientific journals known to modern man, has identified a function of deep sleep related to the human brain that has never been pointed out before.
The study, which came out just a few days ago, also shows that getting enough deep sleep is important for keeping the threat of Alzheimer’s disease at bay. Its authors note that the other phases of sleep outside of rapid eye movement sleep transports waste out of the human brain via cerebrospinal fluid. These findings support countless pieces of research published in recent years related to the problems that arise from failing to get enough sleep. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA for short, last year found that people who suffer from any of the many known sleep issues are at an increased risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or other manifestations of cognitive impairment by a factor of 1.68. The same study found that as much as 15 percent of cases of Alzheimer’s disease could likely be directly pinned to sleep problems.
Other studies have shown that suffering from even one night of bad sleep is directly responsible for a rise in blood pressure readings for up to two days after the sleepless or otherwise subpar night is experienced.