The Times
Rhys Blakely
Science Correspondent
Gerry Gajadharsingh writes:
“One of the founding principles of Osteopathic philosophy is that “the rule of the artery is supreme”. What do we mean by this?
All structures of the body receive a blood supply, arteries carrying blood to the structure and its individual cells and venous and lymphatic vessels carrying blood away. They do this to supply cells with vital nutrients, such as oxygen, glucose, and enzymes (which control every cellular reaction in the body) and take away the waste products from the metabolism occurring in the cells. Coupled with neurological control from the brain, central and peripheral nervous system, this is what allow us to function and keeps us alive. When disturbance in this delicate mechanism occurs, it disturbs function and can often lead to disease.
So, whether it’s a muscle, joint, the heart or brain (or indeed any other structure), an Osteopath will be thinking, how can I help the patient improve this critical circulatory system to that structure, their symptoms and perhaps influence the actual disease process.
One of the many approaches within Osteopathic Manual Treatment (OMT), are Cranio-Sacral techniques, also described as very subtle manual treatment techniques working on the so-called involuntary mechanism. Palpation (feeling), the skill which Osteopaths and other clinicians use to feel, examine and treat patients, is highly trained in Osteopaths. One of the things, that they feel in patients, is the rhythmical flow of this involuntary mechanism, like a “wave” pattern. This can be felt in most parts of the body, but often the head (cranial) and the sacrum (the triangular bone and the base of the spine).
The research below has now actually measured the “wave pattern” that is occurring in the brain, in relation to potentially helping manage Alzheimer’s and what is occurring in the brain when we go to sleep. Scientists have found that our brains are rhythmically rinsed in a watery fluid after we drift off each evening. The latest study was published yesterday in the journal Science. After monitoring 11 sleeping volunteers using MRI scans, scientists found that the process begins with brain cells reducing their electrical activity. A few seconds later, a certain amount of blood flows from the head into the body.
This leads to lower pressure, allowing a watery liquid, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), to flow in. It appears to wash through the brain in rhythmic, pulsing waves. The study was the first to show this pulsing activity. It also revealed the close association with both brain wave activity and blood flow.
The head sits on the neck, so an Osteopath will pay particular attention to all of the structures on the neck, to make sure that the arterial supply and the venous and lymphatic drainage can achieve an optimum state.
This research is part of the expanding “puzzle” helping clinicians like me, who believe that we must adopt an integrated approach to help the increasing number of patients likely to develop dementia over the coming years.
In relation to sleep many patients following the principle of Metabolic Balance report improved quality and quantity of sleep; hence why “good” nutrition is so important. A relaxed breathing behaviour does wonders for optimising pH control in the body and allowing our stresses nervous system to calm down (which also helps sleep).
I am in the process of developing a commercial functional drink to help us relax and to potential aid sleep. Watch this space, Gerry’s Tonic is due to launch in early 2020, with a coupled functional energy drink.”
It’s well known that a good night’s sleep is good for your health, but it could also be the key to avoiding Alzheimer’s— by quite literally brainwashing us.
Scientists have found that our brains are rhythmically rinsed in a watery fluid after we drift off each evening. The process, which is thought to play a part in keeping cognitive functions sharp, could offer the best explanation yet of why we need to rest and why a broken night’s sleep leaves one foggy-headed. It could also help to flesh out the enigmatic association between sleep disorders and degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.
As scientists have struggled to find a drug to counter the effects of Alzheimer’s, the link between sleep and dementia has become a focus for research. One study published in June suggested that analysing brain waves while we doze could be a means of diagnosing the condition, long before clinical symptoms become apparent.
The latest study was published yesterday in the journal Science. After monitoring 11 sleeping volunteers using MRI scans, scientists found that the process begins with brain cells reducing their electrical activity. A few seconds later, a certain amount of blood flows from the head into the body.
This leads to lower pressure, allowing a watery liquid, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), to flow in. It appears to wash through the brain in rhythmic, pulsing waves. The study was the first to show this pulsing activity. It also revealed the close association with both brain wave activity and blood flow.
“We’ve known for a while that there are electrical waves of activity in the neurons,” Laura Lewis, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University and a co-author of the paper, said. “But before now we didn’t realise that there are actually waves in the cerebrospinal fluid, too.”
The findings back up earlier studies, which have suggested that both cerebrospinal fluid and brain wave activity may help to flush toxic, memory-impairing proteins from the brain.
As people age, it appears that their brains tend to generate fewer, slower brain waves. This, in turn, may affect the blood flow in the brain and reduce the pulsing of cerebrospinal fluid during sleep, leading to a build-up of toxic proteins and a decline in faculties such as memory.
The team behind yesterday’s finding now plan to explore how the brain-washing process is controlled. “The neural change always seems to happen first, and then it’s followed by a flow of blood out of the head, and then a wave of CSF into the head,” Dr Lewis said.
One explanation may be that when the brain cells become less active, they require less oxygen, so blood leaves the area. Pressure in the brain then drops and cerebrospinal fluid rapidly flows in to maintain pressure at a safe level.
“But that’s just one possibility,” Dr Lewis said. “What are the causal links? Is one of these processes causing the others? Or is there some hidden force that is driving all of them?”
Previous studies involving animals have indicated that one of the waste products removed from the brain during sleep is beta amyloid, a protein closely associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The brain-rinsing occurs during what is known as non-REM sleep soon after a person drifts off.