Clearing the Waste from Your Brain

Electroacupuncture Offers Therapeutic Benefit For Brain Health

Every night when you drift off to sleep, a powerful system turns up its activity in your brain. Similar in function to the lymphatic system, the glymphatic system helps rid the brain of harmful waste metabolites and misfolded or damaged proteins that are implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. Amyloid beta, tau and alpha-synuclein proteins accumulate in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and contribute to the debilitating symptoms associated with these diseases. The clearance mechanism of the glymphatic system plays an important role in reducing this build up, thereby protecting the brain from potential harm.

Since its relatively recent discovery in 2012, the glymphatic system has been studied using tracers and specialized imaging techniques like MRI, two photon microscopy, and PET/SPECT scans which allow the flow to be visualized. The system begins with the influx of cerebrospinal fluid via networks surrounding the cerebral arteries. The CSF then mixes with the interstitial fluid of the brain. This mixture essentially picks up waste products for removal and pumps the fluid out of the brain along pathways of the cerebral veins, where it drains into the cervical lymph nodes for further processing.

Neuroscientists are certain that sleep is critical for this waste removal to occur and dysregulated sleep is a known risk factor for cognitive impairment. Approximately 90% of the glymphatic system activity occurs during Stage 3 non-REM sleep. Animal research has shown that up to 40% of amyloid beta is cleared out of the brain during sleep. Sleeping on one’s right side has been shown to promote optimal glymphatic flow.

In addition to sleep, exercise appears to have benefit, as well. A study with aged mice found that those who voluntarily exercised by running on a wheel had increased efficiency of glymphatic clearance as evidenced by reduced amyloid beta deposition in their brains. Additionally, the aged mice who exercised performed better on the standard water maze test, used to assess learning and memory illustrating the neuroprotective effects of exercise.

Nutrition may also support glymphatic function. A study showed that mice who were fed a diet high in poly-unsaturated fatty acids, specifically Omega 3s, demonstrated increased speed of glymphatic clearance of a tracer with which they had been injected. These mice had been engineered to have high levels of amyloid beta in their brains and yet they were protected from neuron damage in comparison to controls who did not have high levels of Omega 3 fatty acids in their diet.

Electroacupuncture has been found to offer therapeutic benefit for the glymphatic system in mice. One study compared two groups of mice, both engineered to have the equivalent of Alzheimer’s disease. One group received electroacupuncture to three acupoints known to influence the brain. The treatments were given five days on, two days off each week, for eight weeks. The results showed that the mice given electroacupuncture were able to clear the tracer significantly better than the control group and also outperformed controls on the water maze test. Additionally, the electroacupuncture group had reduced deposition of amyloid beta. While there is still much to learn about the glymphatic system, we can leverage brain health by getting good sleep, exercising, and taking a high-quality Omega-3 supplement.

Written and image provided by Angela King, AP, DOM

To learn more about acupuncture for brain health, contact Indian River Acupuncture & Functional Medicine at (772) 564-8383.

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