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In an interview with GQ, 54-year-old David Sinclair says his lifestyle changes got him back to his “20-year-old brain.”

A study conducted by researchers from the Department of Neurology at MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna has demonstrated for the first time that the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) can be significantly improved by additionally measuring the thickness of retinal layers in the eye.

Use of the procedure, which is already available at the Departments of MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna, helps to detect the condition at an earlier stage and predict its progression more accurately. This can lead to a decisive increase in the chance of improved patient outcomes. The findings have been published in the journal Neurology.

As part of their investigation, the research team headed by Gabriel Bsteh and Thomas Berger of the Department of Neurology at MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna collaborated with colleagues from MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna’s Department of Ophthalmology and Optometrics to examine 267 MS patients over a period of five years.

We all know the feeling of waking up groggy and exhausted, struggling to find the energy to tackle the day ahead. The key to breaking free from this cycle lies in understanding the science of sleep and adopting evidence-based strategies to enhance its quality. So, let’s explore the stages of sleeping and the role of circadian rhythms in regulating our sleep-wake cycles to transform your habits and embark on the journey to obtain better sleep every night!

Get Better Sleep Every Night: Understand the Science

Sleep is far from being a passive state of unconsciousness. On the contrary, it’s a complex process that plays a vital role in our physical and mental well-being. To improve our sleep quality, we must learn more about its stages.

Regular physical exercise, such as resistance training, can prevent Alzheimer’s disease, or at least delay the appearance of symptoms, and serves as a simple and affordable therapy for Alzheimer’s patients. This is the conclusion of an article published in Frontiers in Neuroscience by Brazilian researchers affiliated with the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) and the University of São Paulo (USP).

Although and dementia patients are unlikely to be able to do long daily runs or perform other high-intensity , these activities are the focus for most scientific studies on Alzheimer’s. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends as the best option to train balance, improve posture and prevent falls. Resistance exercise entails contraction of specific muscles against an external resistance and is considered an essential strategy to increase muscle mass, strength and bone density, and to improve overall body composition, functional capacity and balance. It also helps prevent or mitigate sarcopenia (muscle atrophy), making everyday tasks easier to perform.

To observe the neuroprotective effects of this practice, researchers in UNIFESP’s Departments of Physiology and Psychobiology, and the Department of Biochemistry at USP’s Institute of Chemistry (IQ-USP), conducted experiments involving with a mutation responsible for a buildup of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain. The protein accumulates in the central nervous system, impairs synaptic connections and damages neurons, all of which are features of Alzheimer’s disease.