Apr 24, 2020
Dr. Pastore discusses the vital
role sleep plays in immunity, how lack of sleep and poor quality
sleep can lower your immune system, sleep duration guidelines for
optimal health and steps you can take to improve your
sleep.
What is “poor” sleep
[1:00]
- Quality sleep for adults 7-9 continuous,
uninterrupted hours of sleep per night
-
- Likely not possible for parents, like Dr.
Pastore
- Teenagers require 8-10 continuous,
uninterrupted hours of sleep per night
-
- 6.5 -
7 hours for teenagers can have same effect as being
inebriated
- Sleep
science still needs much more research
-
- Those
staying home & safe during COVID-19 can cause COVID-19
dreams
-
- Intense/horror dreams due to inability to
normalize stress/anxiety during the day
Lack of quality sleep mentioned
above is directly associated with higher likelihood of being sick
after being exposed to a virus [3:55]
- Studies on common cold
- Lack
of sleep or disrupted sleep increases risk of getting a
virus
Lack of sleep impacted how fast
you recover if you do get sick [4:40]
- Dr.
Pastore treating patients & working with other doctors treating
patients with COVID-19, those recovering slower & have the virus
longer have worse sleep
-
- 21 &
23 days of having the active COVID-19 infection
- Seen
faster COVID-19 recovery of 9 days with better, quality
sleep
Quality sleep needs to be
uninterrupted [7:05]
- Difficult for parents waking up for
children
- 7-9
for adults, 8-10 hours for teenager straight
Long-term poor quality sleep
increase risk of obesity & diseases that further the risk for
infections [9:05]
-
- Medical fact: poor sleep causes cardiovascular
disease, diabetes & obesity
- Cardiovascular disease, diabetes & obesity
increase risk for infections such as COVID-19 or regular
flu
- Inflammasome is byproduct of being overweight &
obesity
-
- Proinflammatory response that can lower immune
system
- Quality sleep drastically improves fat loss
progress
- Lack
of sleep (as little as 2-3 nights in a row) - cells become
temporarily insulin resistant which causes elevation in glucose,
can lead to weight gain & fat storage
-
- Chronic lack of sleep can make cells
permanently insulin resistant
- Quality sleep improves cell-signalling
communication between insulin receptor cells & GLUT receptors to
let glucose into the cells
Poor sleep lowers your immune
system, makes it longer to recover from a virus, increases risk of
diseases that can further lower the immune system, and can worsen
health if pre-existing disease exists [13:00]
- We’re
all biochemically & genetically unique
- Knowing genetics, medical history, biological
markers, calcium score
Why does decreased sleep lower
the immune system? [14:55]
- Sleep
supports & enhances the initiation of an adaptive
immune system response
- Adaptive immune system response
process:
-
- Trouble maker / invading antigen / virus
invading body
- Human
immune system takes up antigen & appropriates it
- Breaks apart the antigen & presents fragments
of antigen to T Helper Cells
- T
Helper Cells signal cytokines Interleukin 12
- Interleukin 12 calls in T-Helper Cell One
Response, supports antigen specific T-Cells
- T-Helper Cell 1 Response starts B-Cell
production of antibodies to always be able to recognize the
invading antigen / virus
- If
the invading antigen is presented in the body again, the body will
attack it
- Produced in the lymph nodes
- Vaccines are a great example of adaptive
immunity, producing herd immunity
- Sleep
turns this response on, lack of sleep turns it off
-
- Immune cannot identify the invading
antigen
- Sleep
deprived hepatitis A vaccine patients vs quality sleep hepatitis A
vaccine patients
-
- Poor
sleep patients did not have amplified adaptive immune system
response to vaccine
- Parents typically lose hundreds of hours of
sleep
Prescription medications to
improve sleep quality [21:05]
- Dr.
James Maas, “Father of Sleep” & other sleep doctors confirm
prescription sleep medications will not lead
to a perfect night’s sleep or “sleep saviours”
- Have
seductive-type affects
- Can
affect memory & perception of sleep quality
- Our
Neurochemistry of Sleep Podcast
-
- Be
aware of side effects
-
- Rebound insomnia
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Difficult swallowing or breathing
- Worsening depression & suciride
ideation
- Study
showed those with highest sleep medication prescriptions had
highest risk of all-cause mortality
- Study
showed increased risk of various cancers, increased risk of
dementia
- Not
getting into a deep sleep, interferes with glucose & cell receptor
response
Could be underlying issue or health concern causing lack
of sleep [24:20]
-
- Chronic pain & arthritis
- Breathing disorders
- Dietary supplements & stimulants (caffeine)
close to bed
- Gastoresophorefluz disorder
- Hypothyroidism, Graves Disease
- Chronic back pain
- Sinus
disorder or allergies
- Medications can disrupt sleep
-
- Birth
control
- Cold
medicine
- Asthma medication
- High
blood pressure medication
- Depression
- Thyroid medication
- Talk
to your doctor to find the underlying cause
- Pharmacogenetics - PGX
-
- Test
genetics to determine drug response based on individual
genetics
- Medications aren’t a one-size fits
all
- Could
be nutritional deficiency
-
- Magnesium, Vitamin D
- Request bloodwork from
physician
- 40%
population at risk for low magnesium
- Undiagnosed sleep apnea
-
- Temporarily stop breathing, adrenaline wakes
you up
Lifestyle changes to implement
to improve sleep [29:30]
- Address stress
- Get
regular physical activity & exercise
-
- Exercise helps lower stress
- Caffeine consumption
-
- Genetic variations to process caffeine
faster/slower
- Avoid
caffeine after 3-4PM
- Green
tea, diet cola, soft drinks with caffeine
- Exposure to artificial light
-
- Disrupts normal neurological signalling for
sleep, turns off melatonin production
- Can
upregulate alert/excitatory neurotransmitters to keep you
awake
- Blue
light blocking glasses
- Night
mode on electronics reducing blue light
- Limit
alcohol
-
- Sedative effect - can help you fall asleep
initially
- Later
in night, causes dopamine rush & interferes with adaptive immune
response
- More
consistent alcohol consumption will continue to lower immune system
nightly
- Limit
or eliminate nicotine
-
- Vaping, chewing tobacco
- Nicotine neurotoxin, extremely
addictive
- Makes
it difficult to fall asleep
- Sleep
in a cool bedroom
-
- Lower
temperature helps with sleep
Melatonin for sleep
[35:30]
- Melatonin is both a hormone and
neurotransmitter
- Excreted from penial gland
- Exposure to natural light during day, as sun
sets, darkness cues melatonin production
- Helps
stimulate our sleep - high affinity melatonin receptors in
SCN
-
- MTA &
MT1A, MT2 & MT2B receptors - absorbs melatonin & slows excitatory
function to prepare for sleep
- Promotes sleep by stimulating acute inhibition
of neurological firing of awake neurotransmitters in
SCN
- Helps
initiate sleep process, but won’t benefit rest of sleep
cycle
- Helps
regulate circadian rhythm (sleep/wake cycles)
- Taking a “low” dose of 1mg of melatonin is
still incredibly high compared to what the brain produces
naturally
-
- Can
produce “hangover” in the morning
- Fatigued, tired, brain fog, delayed
responses
- Suppressing dopamine
responses
- Receptors of SCN turned off way past sleep
period
- Up to
18 hours of hangover
- Walking wounded: feel better at 8-10PM and take
another dose
- High-dose (1mg+) melatonin should not be a
nightly supplement for sleep
Effective natural products for
sleep do exist [40:50]
- Dr.
Pastore’s poor sleep practicing as a doctor, then being a
father
- Developed sleep supplement Power OFF for his
own sleep issues as nothing else worked
-
- We
can provide you with the scientific paper Dr. Pastore
wrote
- Help
turn off excitatory neurotransmitters before bed to fall
asleep
- Help
stay asleep without waking up
-
- Studies on theanine + 5 hydroxytryptophan shown
to keep you asleep
- GABA
to help you fall asleep
-
- Most
GABA can’t cross blood-brain barrier
-
- Blood-brain barrier: only allows certain
nutrients/neurotransmitters into the brain from the bloodstream to
protect the brain
- Dr.
Pastore used his PhD in nanomedicine to make GABA pass the blood
brain barrier
- Magnolia plant - honokiol
-
- Studies show honokiol primes receptor for
GABA uptake
- Combination of ingredients address mechanism of
turning off cellular stress response constantly being fired by
ephedrine (excitatory / awake neurotransmitter) at
night
-
- Requires sulphur enzyme system - enzyme
phenalethol…..help
:)
-
- Cysteine & dimer to create cystine
- Helps
fall back asleep after interrupted sleep
- Won’t
prevent you from waking up if needed
- Formula evolves as new studies & research comes
out
Antihistamines / Benadryl before
bed [52:55]
- Dangerous for long-term health
- Harvard in 2005 urged doctors to advise
patients to stop using antihistamines for sleep
- Antihistamines reduce acetylcholine, which over
time increases risk of age-related mental decline
-
- Disrupts memory, cognitive sharpness, more
forgetful
Wrap-Up [55:15]