“Glymphatic clearance”.
Yep, we thought the same thing: What the heck is glymphatic clearance? You might be surprised to know that this cryptic phrase points to the ever-important principle that amazing things happen to you when you afford your body a good night’s rest.
A team of researchers from New York University and University of Rochester discovered that, while you sleep, your body uses cerebrospinal fluid to clean out the toxins that accumulate in your brain. This process is what is known as glymphatic clearance.
Let’s put it this way: Every night you lay your pretty little head on the pillow and fall asleep, the body sends fluid through your brain like a trash truck. Little bits of toxins and other waste get caught up in the flow, are then transferred to the liver and filtered out.
See the glowing white streaks in the black and white images? That’s the glymphatic fluid moving through the neighborhoods of the brain and taking out the trash.
Not a bad system, is it? The important find in this study is not just the glymphatic system, but what the glymphatic system discards. Of current interest to the researchers is how the GS throws out the brain’s beta-amyloid trash. Beta-amyloid, as you may know, is a plaque-like substance that is prevalent in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients.
The plaque builds up around nerves, eventually destroying the vital communication connections between them. Researchers don’t know yet how they will be able to apply the information they’ve collected through this study to Alzheimer’s research. They are hopeful the implications will further the fight against Alzheimer’s.
Our advice? Get a few extra hours of sleep tonight. Your beta-amyloid may hate you, but your brain will thank you.
Read the findings of the glymphatic clearance/beta-amyloid research on this page provided by the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.
When we’re not scouring the internet for interesting, credible research results, we’re making some fantastic Somnium mattresses.