You know when you’re working on an arts and crafts project, and by the time you’re done, there’s a bunch of leftover construction paper and paint marks?
Well, the same thing kind of happens in your brain.
‘Just as your home accumulates waste that needs to be cleared away, your brain generates byproducts – such as extra proteins, cellular debris, and toxins – when its cells do their jobs,’ neuroscientist Ian McDonough told the DailyMail.com
He explained that there are special systems in your brain, including microglia (the brain’s cleanup crew), and networks like the glymphatic and lymphatic systems, that work to help remove this waste.
‘During sleep, the glymphatic system becomes especially active, flushing out the unwanted materials to keep your brain clean and healthy, much like a nightly cleanup that prevents buildup and potential damage,’ McDonough said.
As you get older, these systems slow down.
But according to an article published in VICE, researchers have found a treatment for cognitive decline that involves cleaning out this ‘brain waste,’ much more efficiently than your body does on its own.
And apparently, all it takes is a boost to your lymphatic systems to do this.
Neuroscientist Ian McDonough said that the brain creates waste after cells do their jobs
While this may seem simple, this new treatment is still in its early ages since this is the first time researchers have been able to the blood brain barrier – which is responsible for separating your blood from your brain tissue.
So why is this so significant? Because it might lead to being able to prevent dementia.
McDonough explained that Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, and that it’s characterized by a buildup of harmful toxins.
‘If we could clear waste in the brain, pathology would never have a chance to clump and damage neurons and therefore, cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease would not occur (and no Alzheimer’s diagnosis would occur either),’ he said.
But McDonough explained that all of this research is pretty new.
And as of right now, we don’t have good ways to clear brain waste in humans through a procedure.
He explained that this doesn’t mean that there’s no other possible way to slow the potential diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
‘Several lifestyle factors may help the brain naturally clear our waste like increasing the quality of one’s sleep,’ McDonough said.
By clearing up this ‘brain waste,’ researchers have the potential to prevent the effects of dementia (stock image)
‘During sleep, the glymphatic system becomes especially active, flushing out the unwanted materials to keep your brain clean and healthy, much like a nightly cleanup that prevents buildup and potential damage.’
Additionally, he explained that research done on aging mice has shown that regular aerobic exercise can boost the function of the glymphatic system.
McDounough said that this is the brain’s cleaning network, and it’s boosted by enhancing blood flow and arterial pulsation.
Research is showing that dementia can also be prevented with more education, correcting hearing loss, reducing cholesterol, reducing depression, increasing physical activity, reducing the likelihood of getting diabetes.
Other things like eliminating smoking, obesity, lowering alcohol intake, increasing social activity, and reducing exposure to air pollution can also all aid at preventing diabetes.
