Summary: One of the new studies shows that using sleep aids may alter the production of neurotransmitters, altering brain oscillation and thus negatively affecting waste removal while asleep. This can ultimately increase the risk of developing dementia.
The leading cause of premature death, disease, and disability these days are chronic non-infectious diseases like metabolic disorders caused by wrong lifestyle choices. Although wrong dietary choices and lack of physical activity are the leading causes of chronic health issues, there are other significant causes,such as highstress levels and poor or inadequate sleep.
Improving sleep duration and quality could be one of the simplest ways to boost health. Although sleep duration is relatively simpler to explain, understanding sleep quality is more challenging.
Most guidelines say that adults should sleep for 7 hours or more. However, studies show that in the US, about 40% of adults do not sleep enough This is not just due to job or stress; extensive use of gadgets has also worsened things.
However, there is another sleep issue. It is not enough to sleep for 7 hours. It is equally vital to have a quality sleep, with sufficient periods of REM (rapid eye movement) and NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep. People go through several sleep cycles at night, including REM and NREM. If these cycles are disrupted, they result in insufficient rest, causing harm.
So, even those who are sleeping for seven or more hours are not essentially sleeping well. Thus, for example, alcohol intake disrupts sleep cycles. Similarly, one of the new studies shows that even commonly used sleep aids may disrupt sleep cycles.
It has long been known that sleep pills do help sleep for enough hours, but they do not essentially result in refreshing sleep (people often complain of morning headaches and not feeling rested). However, many people habitually use these pills without realizing the risks. New studies suggest that maintaining sleep rhythm is essential for proper brain waste removal.
Why it matters? Well, dementia is on the rise, and one of the reasons is rising rates of brain inflammation due to accumulating toxins. Researchers think that one of the significant reasons for this issue is insufficient or poor-quality sleep. Yes, a good night’s sleep may be one of the most effective ways of reducing your risk of dementia.
The brain is one of the most complex organs of all, and science is still trying to understand it. Science still does not fully understand how it functions. It took a long for science to realize that there are more glial or supportive cells in the brain than neurons. This is because neurons need much care.
In the new study, researchers found that commonly used sleeping aids like zolpidem reduce norepinephrine production. This decline in the neurotransmitters alters brain frequency, especially when the person is sleeping—this reduces oscillations during NREM, reducing movement of glymphatic. Glymphatic clearance is the brain’s primary way of removing toxins. Thus, using this sleeping aid reduces the clearance of toxins.
Of course, things are not that simple. Other experts argue that the benefits of sleep aids outweigh any such harms. For example, if a person is not able to sleep well without these pills, then the harm would be even greater. So, one has to weigh things carefully.
Nevertheless, this study clearly shows that sleep deprivation and changes in quality slow down the removal of brain toxins. This may increase the risk of dementia in the long run.
Experts are not suggesting that people stop using sleep aids. Instead, they are talking about practicing caution. Some people have become used to taking these pills regularly. It is unlikely that using these pills now and then would cause harm. Such a harm is more likely to occur in habitual users of sleep aids.
Further, this also highlights how various substances that change brain frequencies may alter brain physiology and thus increase dementia risk.
Multiple such factors may significantly disrupt brain physiology, causing much harm. The cumulative impact of such issues is significant.
Source:
Hauglund, N. L., Andersen, M., Tokarska, K., Radovanovic, T., Kjaerby, C., Sørensen, F. L., Bojarowska, Z., Untiet, V., Ballestero, S. B., Kolmos, M. G., Weikop, P., Hirase, H., & Nedergaard, M. (2025). Norepinephrine-mediated slow vasomotion drives glymphatic clearance during sleep. Cell, 0(0).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.11.027
