Interesting article in this week's The Economist, it's behind a paywall so I'll summarise.
Most of the body clears out cellular waste matter via the lymphatic system. But this process doesn't work for the brain, the brain flushes itself through using the pulsing of the arteries and cerebrospinal fluid. This process, called the "glymphatic system", clears out two types of brain protein, amyloid-beta and tau, which if they are allowed to build up can cause Alzheimer's.
Many factors can disrupt this process and increase the risk of Alzheimer's, but two of the most significant are disturbed sleep (the glymphatic system works best during deep sleep) and high blood pressure (especially amongst middle aged patients). Both of these are also risk factors for heart disease, so it's easy to see why there's a cross over between heart problems and dementia.
All this has been well documented before, but here's where the article gets interesting.
A large study in Denmark involving 70,000 patients found some (but not all) beta-blockers seemed to significantly promote better glymphatic circulation and therefore materially reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. The beta blockers that can do this are the lipid soluble types, I checked and this includes Bisoprolol, which many of us on this forum take.
So, good news if you're taking Bisoprolol, you're getting a valuable side benefit. But for all of us the study also underlines the critical importance of achieving regular, deep sleep. Stress, sleep apnea, shift work, over heated bedrooms, frequent long haul flights, and many other factors can all disrupt healthy sleep patterns. By tackling these it seems we can both improve our life style resistance to heart disease as well as reducing our Alzheimer's risks.
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Chappychap
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I doubt there's one silver bullet solution for any of us. If we can't make progress in one area then we just we have to redouble our efforts to make progress somewhere else. All the best to you.
Thanks, I started on 1.25, I was put on 2.5 after my bypass back in 2017. It's all gone okay but my next prescription is going up to 5 mg and I have to be honest I am a little concerned that they have decided to double the dose rather than first put me on 3.75. I have always trusted the medics but have to be honest this choice has confused me. I have terrible trouble sleeping I thought it was the new thinners they have put me on, it may well be it is a combination.
I see where you are coming from as I was on 5mg of ramipril for 10 years and noticed a rise in blood pressure. On a phone conversation my cardiologist upped it to 10mg and I had really bad dizzy spells and just did not feel right. Eventually it was reduced to 7.5mg and blood pressure now 115/75. No more dizzy spells though.
The GP is only following the instructions of the Cardio nurse so I may ask her when I see her next at Cardio rehab. When she talked about it she said she wasn't overly concerned about my heart rate but it was the higher side of normal so I would have thought the between increase would have been better, just to see how my heart rate responded.
Interesting stuff.. Michael Moseley did a thing about sleep on channel 4 as well this week...
It's easy to interpret "life style" as just meaning exercise and diet, but even though these are extremely important I suspect that a healthy heart life style actually covers many other areas besides.
Very interesting! I take 3.75 Bisoprolol and when I saw the headline I thought " Uh oh another negative side- effect...." But no! For once a positive study for us hearties taking this drug. However since taking Bisoprolol I find my memory is less sharp - a bit cotton woolly if you know what I mean? Anyone else have this? Or perhaps that's the Flecainide. 🤔😊
What an interesting write up. Also it’s about the first POSITIVE post I’ve seen regarding Bisoprolol! I’ve been on this forum for 3 years and this is probably the first post I’ve seen that ISN’T complaining about the side effects of Bisoprolol!😁 Whilst I have little problem with the drug myself I will now take mine every morning with a renewed vigour! 😉 Many thanks for posting. Sue 🙏
Hello, do you have any suggestions for staying asleep. I have no problem getting to sleep but then wake approximately every two hours until I rise at 8 a.m.
I’m not really sure. I think I do go back to sleep quite quickly because when I think I haven’t slept and check the clock two hours has passed by! I have outrageous dreams and that doesn’t help. I put that down to Flecainide. It is so easy to blame the medication.
Thank you Chappychap, that’s very interesting. I watched something this week about brain fluids flushing out protein particles responsible for Alzheimer’s but don’t remember where!
Thanks for this. I have been agitating to drop my 1.25 mg Bisoprolol on the basis that my heart rate is so low, particularly in the morning. Perhaps I need to rethink that. Seeing the cardiologist soon following my Holter results. I am also hoping to reduce my Flecainide from 100mg twice a day following successful cardioversion.
Thanks for that, nice to have some positive information about bisoprolol. Been on 10mg for 10years now, always had very vivid dreams, so no change there.
Thank you for sharing. With both parents having Alzheimer’s and my grandmother passing due to Alzheimer’s I tend to appreciate any information like this.
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