10 Ways to Clean Up Your Brain - Glymphatic System
In this podcast, Dr. Rodney and Karen talk about the glymphatic system.
What is the glymphatic system?
Your Central Nervous System is highly active so metabolic waste can build up quickly. It is also very sensitive to fluctuations in its environment, so the body needs to remove cellular garbage somehow, and that’s where the glymphatic system comes in.
Before the discovery of this brain-based garbage disposal system, scientists believed that each individual cell handled its own metabolic waste.
Why is the system called the glymphatic system?
The name is a reference to the glial cells, which are vital to this waste clearance system.
Glial cells get relatively little coverage, compared with neurons, despite being just as numerous in the brain. They were long considered little more than lowly support cells, but are now held in higher regard.
Glia protect, nourish, and insulate neurons. They also play a role in the immune system and, as we now know, the glymphatic system.
The glymphatic system, which runs parallel to arteries, also harnesses the pulsing of blood in circulation to help keep things moving.
As the blood vessels expand rhythmically, they drive the exchange of compounds between the interstitial space and the CSF(clean cerebrospinal fluid) which replaces the waste products
The glymphatic system connects with the lymphatic system of the rest of the body at the dura, a thick membrane of connective tissue that covers the CNS. The lymphatic system gets rid of the toxins, waste and other unwanted material.
Why is the glymphatic system so important?
If the cellular system became overloaded or slowed down as we aged, metabolic garbage would build up between the cells. This garbage includes products such as beta-amyloid — the protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
It is important to keep this metabolic waste from accumulating in the brain.
Brain cells perform autophagy (“self eating”) to scavenge additional waste by mopping up diseased and damaged bits of tau protein and beta-amyloid.
What are causes of glymphatic system congestion?
What are some action steps to improve glymphatic flow?
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