Can Alzheimer’s Brain Toxins Be Cleared by Core Nutrients, Deep Sleep, Qigong?

Is Alzheimer’s disease a result of toxins that trigger brain inflammation? Can nurturing brain lymphatic flow boost toxic clearance?

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The body’s internal system of “drains and aqueducts,” the lymphatics, has been known for some time. Brain lymphatics, though, are a new discovery—and their role in defusing conditions like Alzheimer’s has only just started to be understood.

“If [tau particles] can’t get cleared from the system, they build up … and become toxic,” says Dr. Gerald Lemole, retired professor of surgery at Thomas Jefferson University.

“They bundle up and kill nerve cells,” he adds, highlighting one scenario where blocked lymphatic flow could trigger brain inflammation and subsequently Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Lemole enlightened to the import of body lymphatics in the earliest days of heart-transplant surgery in America: When the first round of successful transplant patients all died within two years, his investigation found a failure of lymphatics to be the reason.

As such, Dr. Lemole looks on with interest as the healing potential of brain lymphatics further unfolds through research.

A University of Rochester study shows the freer movement of cerebrospinal fluid through the brains of mice when they are asleep.

“We know that the best deep sleep is the non-REM [stage] three sleep, and that’s when 70 to 90 percent of the clearance occurs … Very little occurs while you’re awake,” says Dr. Lemole.

Apart from getting the right kind of deep sleep, what other dietary and lifestyle factors known to enhance body lymphatic flow could also enhance brain lymphatic clearance?

Dr. Lemole has also served as professor of surgery and chief of cardiac surgery at Temple University. Today, he joins Vital Signs with Brendon Fallon to introduce brain lymphatics and how they might be harnessed to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

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