Ecology of health: It is curious that most people and animals, even in the wild, most often prefer

Researchers from Stony Brook University in their new scientific work claim that it is most beneficial to sleep lying on your side.

It is in this position that the brain is most effectively cleansed of toxins, scientists say.This in turn helps reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, as well as a number of other neurological diseases.

Using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, a research team led by Helene Benveniste, MD, PhD studied the brain and the complex glymphatic system(glymphatic system), which plays a vital role in the effective removal of toxins and waste products from the brain.

The results of the work showed: in the side position, the process of removing toxins occurs most in the best possible way.

Dr. Benveniste has used MRI for several years to study the glymphatic system in a rodent model organism. The method identified pathways in this system in which cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is filtered through the brain and mixed with interstitial fluid to clear waste from a vital organ, just as the lymphatic system does with our other organs.

It is during night sleep that the glymphatic system works at full strength, removing substances that negatively affect brain activity such as tau proteins and beta-amyloids.

In the experiments, the scientists forced mice to fall asleep and placed them to sleep on their backs, stomachs, or sides. Benveniste group colleagues at the University of Rochester used fluorescence microscopy and radiotracers to confirm MRI findings and evaluate the effect of sleep position on the clearance of amyloid substances from the brain.

Sleeping on your side was considered the most effective by both groups of scientists. so the researchers concluded that not only the quality and duration of sleep affects the rest and cleansing of the brain, but also the position during rest.

“It’s interesting that most people and animals, even in the wild, tend to prefer this position,” said Maiken Nedergaard, a researcher at the University of Rochester who took part in the study. “It seems that we have adapted to this position for the best removing metabolic waste from our brain."

"Many types of dementia are associated with sleep disturbances, including difficulty falling asleep and insomnia," the researcher adds. "Such disturbances may accelerate memory loss in Alzheimer's disease."

In the future, the research team plans to conduct similar studies with human participants to definitively confirm their findings and provide recommendations regarding the most optimal positions for night rest.

An adult should not sleep on his stomach. When we sleep on our stomachs, quickly turning our heads to the left or right blood supply to the vertebral arteries is disrupted and there is a risk of stroke.

How to sleep with pain in the spine (back):

It is very comfortable to sleep on your side with a straight leg, and place the other leg, bent at the knee, on the bed. In this case, place the hand on which you will sleep under the pillow, and the other hand can be placed on the body or on the bed.

This pose is suitable for most people suffering from spinal pain. In this case, lie down better on the sore side -at the same time, the intervertebral gaps increase, and the roots of the spinal nerves are not so strongly compressed (irritated). published

Night is a great time to get comfortable in a warm bed, forget about worldly worries and allow the body to recover. And even though some people consider sleep a waste of time, many bioorganic processes occur during sleep, without which conscious life would be simply impossible.

While turning off our consciousness, we still try to make sure that we are not cold, so that extraneous sounds did not interfere with dreams, and the feather bed was soft enough so that the bones did not ache in the morning. Be that as it may, an equally important element—body posture in sleep—remains ignored.

As a child, our parents often told us to “lie on your side, close your eyes and fall asleep.” Why on the side? Why not on your back, not on your stomach? Having matured, we, of course, began to choose for ourselves exactly how we sleep, without bothering to ask this question.

According to doctors, not all poses have a positive effect on the body’s recovery. Moreover, the opinions of doctors of different specializations often differ on the same issue. So is it harmful to sleep on your stomach?

Gastroenterologists note, that sleeping on your stomach is beneficial to calm down the raging storm in the stomach: gases, colic and other “side effects” of digestion. Indeed, many mothers note that small children sleep better on their stomachs, they suffer less from colic, and some even claim that sleeping on their stomachs is good for the child’s breathing and health.

On the other side, some doctors specifically emphasize that sleeping on your stomach can only be done on an empty stomach. The fact is that after digestion in the stomach, the nutritional mass enters the duodenum through the valve between the ribs. This valve, called the pylorus, also releases bile and pancreatic enzymes. If you eat enough and sleep on your stomach, after an hour or two bile can enter the stomach through the pylorus and begin to corrode the mucous membrane. Therefore, you can only sleep on your stomach on an empty stomach. And for those who like to take a nap after lunch, doctors recommend sleeping no longer than one hour.

As it were, sex therapists are strictly against this body position. In their opinion, lying on his stomach, a person’s weight puts pressure on the genitals, which can subsequently have a negative impact on a person’s sexual health. And this applies to both men and women. The latter are even more susceptible to danger, because during sleep they put pressure on the whole body and on the chest, which causes its volume and beauty to be lost.

Dermatologists, in turn,, also noted unpleasant consequences sleeping on your stomach. The skin on one side of the face, where a person prefers to see the most dreams, begins to deform, which may cause the first small wrinkles to appear.

Chiropractors are positive and they recommend sleeping on your stomach, since in this position the intervertebral cartilages are best straightened. Also, doctors of this profession note that in this position the body is relieved of pressure from the kidneys, and as a result, they function better, cleansing our body to its full capacity.

From all of the above only one conclusion can be drawn– sleeping lying on your stomach is both harmful and beneficial for various human organs. Therefore, you can sleep on your stomach, but only carefully... If this is your favorite position, try to find another comfortable body position and alternate them so as not to worry sex therapists and dermatologists.

According to doctors, lying on his back a person is also exposed to various loads on the internal organs. Sleeping on your side is not always good for your heart, kidneys and spine. Therefore, it is still important to change your body position while sleeping. Unless, of course, you have not yet learned to sleep standing up.

But I really like to sleep on my stomach and for me there is nothing more comfortable than this position! And the article made me very sad ((((

Many people have the habit of sleeping on their stomach. People sleep in this position because it is comfortable for them. In a dream, a person is relaxed and his body takes a comfortable position. But are there any dangers hidden behind this comfort?

The first danger is that while sleeping on your stomach, some internal organs are subject to compression. This is especially true for organs located in abdominal cavity and below. In this case, heavy loads fall on the bladder and indirectly on the entire genitourinary system. And then - disorders in the sexual sphere, both in men and women.

The second danger is difficulty breathing in this sleeping position. The entire load, the entire body weight falls on chest and on the lungs. The lungs, under the influence of stress, cannot work for a full breath.

And instead of providing the blood with the necessary amount of oxygen during sleep with normal breathing, the lungs are unable to do this due to compression. Without receiving its share of oxygen, the heart, in order to ensure the normal functioning of all organs, begins to work faster. And this is instead of working quietly in sleep mode.

The third danger is the abnormal position of the neck while sleeping on the stomach. The head will be turned all the time. Accordingly, the neck muscles will not be relaxed. Extra loads appear on cervical region spine. And instead of resting, the body receives unreasonable stress. For people with spinal problems, doctors strongly do not recommend sleeping on their stomachs.

The fourth danger is that it only applies to females and touches the breasts. Compression of the chest cannot lead to anything good. And in best case scenario– loss of elasticity or other troubles. Constantly sleeping in this position can lead to problems with the mammary glands.

The fifth danger is that the position of the face with this method of sleep does not contribute to the freshness of the skin. The skin on your face just doesn't breathe. But instead, the skin gets wrinkles, a feeling of bruising, folds around the nose and other unpleasant things.

Sleeping on your back is much healthier for the body. The fact is that the back muscles are more developed than the muscles located in the front of the body. The back muscles, like a shield, protect all internal organs from compression and the load is distributed more evenly. There is no stress on the spine.

The lungs work fully in this position without experiencing any discomfort. The skin of the face is smoothed and fully breathes.

Whether there really is a threat to our health from sleeping on our stomachs is something we will try to figure out.

Here's what one doctor says about this:

Sleeping on your stomach is a kind of time bomb. By taking the “lying on our stomach” position, we indicate that we are completely indifferent to our health. It turns out that this position has a bad effect on the functioning of the genital organs, and the cardiovascular system begins to work differently; with this position, we cause harm to our stomach, intestines and duodenum. During sleep, it is necessary that nothing interferes, even clothes, so in addition it is better to sleep naked.

The harmful effects on the body accumulate and appear gradually, and in a hidden form. And so, when our body becomes very ill and the disease manifests itself, we cannot say with certainty what the cause of this or that disease is. The doctor prescribes us a whole bunch of all sorts of medications, we take them regularly, and the disease recedes for a while, but not for long, while we continue to sleep on our stomachs, and we are not dissuaded or forbidden from this habit.

Why can't you sleep on your stomach?

The position in which we lie on our stomach is the same position that threatens a person not to wake up. One such thought makes one feel uneasy. But, alas, this is so. In the usual position of a sleeping person, the person’s chest is straightened and nothing interferes with normal breathing, it is normal, because the lungs are filled with air without hindrance. The sleeping position on the stomach has the opposite effect. The flattened chest does not straighten out when sleeping on the stomach, which means the air that is in the compressed lungs is not renewed. For young people this does not pose a threat, but for older people there is something to think about, because each such dream may be the last.

The next reason why you can’t sleep on your stomach: when lying in this position, we turn our heads either to the left or to the right. Is not it? So, in this position, the common carotid artery is blocked, and if the second artery of a sleeping person functions poorly, and the sleeping person suffers from osteoporosis or atherosclerosis, then the person may also not wake up. At this moment, nutrition to the brain stops, and its work is slightly supported by the carotid artery. It is very important to convey this information to older people, because at this age the most common enemy is stroke.

Spanish researchers about the position of sleeping on the stomach.

Spanish researchers, after lengthy observations, came to the following conclusions:

1. Sleeping on your stomach is bad for your breasts. This position compresses the chest, while the skin wrinkles, and it is almost impossible to get rid of such wrinkles. This pose helps stretch the mammary glands. There is another interesting opinion of doctors - due to compression of the breast, the risk of developing breast cancer increases significantly, and the vast majority of scientists also support this theory.

2. People who have problems with posture and spine should not sleep on their stomach.

3. Sleeping on the stomach is one of the causes of sexual disorders in both sexes, because... During sleep, internal organs are compressed, including the bladder. As it turned out, it is generally not advisable for men to fall asleep in this position. The reason is simple - the risk of developing impotence increases.

4. Sleeping on your stomach does not have the best effect on the condition of your skin, its youth and freshness. When sleeping in this position, the face becomes covered with fine wrinkles, and constant sleep in this position contributes to the deepening of such wrinkles. Don’t be surprised if one day, looking in the mirror, you notice that a nasolabial fold has appeared on your beautiful face, and the corners of your mouth are “decorated” with vertical wrinkles.

On the other hand, sometimes lying on your stomach is simply necessary. As an example, abdominal pain is not felt so acutely when a person is in this position. It’s not for nothing that small children are often placed on their stomachs.

Dead Man's Pose is what people call the sleeping position when a person sleeps on his stomach. Gloomy, isn't it? But what to do if only in this position you manage to sleep like a baby and not wake up with bags under your eyes that have appeared as a result? The answer to this lies in revealing the question regarding why you should not sleep on your stomach.

Sinners sleep on their stomachs

Thus, the teachings of Islam say that it is generally forbidden to sleep on your stomach. It is believed that in this way you anger God. Based on this, it is necessary to go into the world of dreams lying on your side, because in this way a person follows the Almighty (it was in this position, according to hadiths, that he slept). In addition, many believe that religious men and women should not sleep on their stomachs. Otherwise, this is the lot of sinners who strive to hide their sins from society. It would not be superfluous to note that their opposites are those who sleep sweetly lying on their backs. Such individuals are sinless, they are open to this world and have nothing to hide. In other words, the saints of this world sleep with their faces towards God, sinners – towards unclean forces, earthly passions, which only denigrate the lives of the righteous.

The most remarkable thing is that to this day many representatives of this religion firmly believe in such a ban. If you ask them about the reasons for this, you will hear in response that Allah commanded so and in this case his word is the law.

Meeting with the brownie

But in Rus', almost everyone knew what it meant to sleep on their stomach. It was believed that when a person sleeping in this position entered the deep sleep phase, the brownie would begin to strangle him. From this we can conclude why this position of the body is called the pose of the deceased.

The sign of “Sleeping on your stomach” - the view of psychics

People endowed with a gift from above claim that you should not sleep on your stomach. After all, this position is a time bomb that kills you every night. It is difficult for your soul to go on a journey while your physical shell is at rest. In addition, you clamp all vital chakras, the cleansing of which occurs in the evening.

Is it harmful to sleep on your stomach?

Previously, not everyone had access to the teachings of scientific medicine. Regardless of this, people knew that if you lie on your stomach, you can compress both your lungs and your chest with your own weight. Moreover, this position always makes it difficult to breathe and move fresh air. As a result of the latter, the sleeper may experience nightmares simply because the heart does not have enough oxygen to function properly.

Sleeping on your stomach is also harmful because, as modern medicine has proven, women put pressure on their mammary glands, which is fraught not only with stretch marks and folds, but also with the likelihood of developing tumors.

Each of us always wants to look young, but the way we sleep has an equally important influence on this. So, from the fact that your face lies motionless on the pillow for 6-8 hours, small wrinkles form, and in the morning you will find a “crumpled” face in the mirror.

Is it dangerous to sleep on your stomach?

You are putting yourself in danger, first of all, because your neck is not in a natural position for her. It is turned to the side (either left or right). As a result, the spine suffers. It is worth noting that for this reason, doctors do not recommend that older people sleep in this position (such sleep will “give you” a stroke or, even worse, death in your sleep).

Old Believers claim that in order to avoid violations in sex life men, he should get rid of the habit of lying on his stomach. Modern medicine explains this by the fact that in this position, blood circulation in the pelvic organs slows down, which can negatively impact male strength.