Insomnia and Sleep problems in middle age linked to cognitive decline and AD

A large and new study just showed for the first time that middle age sleep problems are linked with increased production and or accumulation of tau and amyloid proteins, both of which are hallmarks of progressing Alzheimer’s disease, and both proteins have, no surprisingly, also been linked with dementia.   This pooled meta analysis of many research studies previously done showed that middle age sleep problems is a fast track to increased tau and therefore increased mental problems!

This study is new and unique because it looks at midlife sleep complaints. For example, insomnia during midlife actually shows a higher risk for cognitive decline just a decade or so later. Nightmares in midlife also predict cognitive decline 20-30 years later.

Being aware of this risk and just the overall discomfort of not getting good sleep every night and not waking up refreshed in the morning is a good reason to seek a solution to the problem.

What are the solutions that are available?  Needless to say there is no lack of pharmaceutical products that claim to help with sleep, but have some serious side effects such as sleep walking, night terror, dependency, lethargy the next day, …etc.  These side effects are unacceptable.   Most of these medicines will only cover up a symptom (lack of sleep) vs getting to the root cause of lack of sleep:  is it anxiety?  Is is an over active mind or an over active imagination that needs to be turned off for the night for rest of occur, is it overthinking and obsessive thoughts?  Getting to the root of the problem vs covering up a symptoms is the difference between night and day.

In 2007, the FDA issued warnings for prescription sleep drugs, alerting patients that they can cause rare allergic reactions and complex sleep-related behaviors, including “sleep driving.” In 2013, the FDA also warned people that taking sleeping medication at night can impair their ability to drive or be fully alert — even the next day.

You can already imagine I am NOT a big fan of taking a drug to help with insomnia, so lets look at the other options that are available:

Melatonin supplement:  although no studies have shown that melatonin really helps with sleep, or that it helps keep a person sleep thru the night, it has no bad side effects when taken shortly before bed and has other potentially beneficial effects given it is a very powerful endogenous anti-oxidant.

Valerian root:  taken right before bed, studies show that it may reduce time required to fall sleep.  Some call it natures valium.

Magnesium supplements:  Many people in this country are deficient in magnesium.  Magnesium helps to relax the muscles and is also used by the brain to make many different enzymes and seems to help with sleep.

Acupuncture and herbal medicine for sleep:  I know of nothing more effective than acupuncture and herbal formulas to correct what is off balance, replace what is missing, and help the heart and mind fall sleep and stay sleep for a refreshing rest.

How is all this achieved?  Acupuncture is all about balance of energies and substances such as yin and yang and blood and chi, and smooth flow of the energies thru meridians feeding the whole body.

Research shows relationships between any number of health issues and poor sleep. Possible health effects include obesity, diabetes, hypertension, anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse, and more.  An occasional sleepless night here or there is ok and part of life and stresses of daily living but when the sleepless nights become a pattern then there are changes that need to be addressed or long term consequences such as cognitive decline start to take hold.

For example, as we start to have sleepless nights, damage to heart blood and heart yin start to take effect, causing more sleepless night, which in turn causes depletion of even more heart blood and heart yin leading to even more sleep problems.  The correct herbal formula(s) and carefully chose acupuncture points can overtime start to build up the depleted heart blood and yin and reverse the process.  Insomnia can have any one or more of at least six different contributors, all of which are adequately addressed by acupuncture

With the correct choice of acupuncture points and herbal formulas, your insomnia will start to improve and become a thing of the past.  Check into it before bigger problems that maybe irreversible start.

Im here to help and specialize in insomnia.

Send me as much detail as you can regarding when and how your insomnia started and I will get back to you shortly.