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My Why

This is my ‘ sleep walk’ 💤 to raise awareness of the negative effect of a lack of sleep on our body and especially its contribution to Alzheimers’s Disease. 🦠

My mum Maggie died of Alzheimer’s Disease in 2020. I think about her everyday. She was my wing man. Lots of fun, playful creative, a brilliant mother and business woman.

Mum and I were ‘night hawks’ often talking on the phone into the wee hours, her in Ireland or America and me in England. We had no appreciation of how we were affecting our bodies.

This habit continued into my career and I would often work into the early morning in order to cope with everything I had to do.

Going to bed early is boring but it’s always good once you’re in and a little self discipline goes a long way. My performance at work is better and my relationships thrive on good sleep. now I make it a thing. Big comfy bed. Wind down. Screens off. Sleepy tea. I go to bed at about 10pm these days making sure I keep my habit of good quality sleep.

THE SCIENCE BIT

The reason lack of sleep contributes to Alzheimer’s and a host of other common diseases is because Amyloid β (Aβ), a protein often found in those suffering Alzheimer’s builds up and plaques the brain each day. These plaques are thought to be toxic and damage the cells of the brain.

When we sleep the proteins are effectively ‘washed away’ when our cerebral spinal fluid, a clear liquid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, moves through the brain amongst all those neurons that look like ‘trees’ literally cleansing our brains.

It was Alzheimer’s Society-funded research led by Sir Professor John Hardy that first showed the importance of amyloid protein’s role in the causes of Alzheimer’s disease over 30 years ago.

RESEARCH FOR MEDICATION

Researchers have gone on to develop drugs which can clear amyloid from the brain. There’s been a lot of developments reported in the news recently. These drugs are called immunotherapies. They target the amyloid plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease to try and help break them down.

Researchers believe that by clearing the amyloid plaques from the brain they will be able to slow the onset and progress of Alzheimer’s disease.

SLEEP WALK

I am hoping to change the mindset of others like me, to encourage good sleep habits, to help auppress the growth of these plaques, Alzheimer’s Disease and the use of medication to combat it. 💊

Thank you for reading this far.

I’m walking on my own on Sunday taking time out to think of mum.

Join me if you can.

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