How cold water cures dementia

There are thousands of winter swimmers all over the world who are convinced that swimming in cold water helps to improve health and prolong youth. In 2018, scientists found that such water treatments can improve mood and positively affect the mental health of people suffering from depressive disorders. ^[1]. And not so long ago, scientists from the University of Cambridge, who studied how cold water affects the cognitive abilities of the brain, came to very interesting conclusions.

What is a “cold shock protein” and what does hibernation of animals have to do with it?

Scientists have found that immersion in cold water activates the production of a special protein in the brain – RBM3, which is also called the “cold shock protein”. It must be said right away that this substance is not new to the scientific world. The RBM3 protein is normally produced in mammals when their bodies cool down during hibernation. But for people who mostly spend time in the heat, this substance is considered uncharacteristic.

The researchers suggest that RBM3 plays a key role in the recovery of the mammalian brain after a long winter hibernation. After all, as you know, during winter sleep in the body of animals, all vital processes slow down.

In 2015, a team of scientists from the University of Cambridge conducted an experiment in which two groups of mice – healthy and with neurodegenerative disorders – were put into a state of hypothermia (a decrease in their body temperature to 35 degrees). After the temperature was restored, the scientists found that in healthy mice, the synapses (junctions of nerve cells in the brain) were restored, and at the same time, the level of the RBM3 protein increased. But in sick animals, all indicators remained unchanged. This result allowed scientists to suggest that it is the RBM3 protein that contributes to the formation of new neural connections.

In another study, also in mice, scientists found that brain cell death caused by Alzheimer’s disease can be prevented by artificially increasing the level of RBM3 in the body. ^[2].

How about people?

Scientists and doctors have long known that in some situations, lowering the temperature of the human body can serve as an effective protection for the brain. Thus, patients with craniocerebral injuries and those who are about to undergo heart surgery are put into a state of suspended animation by lowering their body temperature. Moreover, even until recently, scientists, although they saw a positive result from such methods, did not quite understand this relationship.

But as it turned out in the course of research, there is a direct relationship between a decrease in temperature and the restoration / destruction of synapses. In patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, synapses are destroyed. This is what causes the symptoms of dementia, such as confusion, memory lapses, mood swings. As the disease progresses, entire sections of the brain may die off in a patient. By the way, something similar happens with animals that hibernate. During a long winter sleep, as vital processes slow down, almost 20-30% of the synapses in the brain of such animals die. But after awakening, neural connections are miraculously restored.

Cambridge researchers decided to study the effect of the RBM3 protein on the human brain in more detail. The researchers chose a group of swimmers who regularly visited the London outdoor swimming pool as the object of their study, and individuals who regularly practiced tai chi, but not swimming in cold water, acted as the control group. Scientists over 3 winters (2016-2018) observed swimmers and regularly measured the amount of protein in their blood. After a thorough analysis of the state of the representatives of both groups, the specialists found that when the body temperature of the swimmers decreased to 34 degrees, the level of the RBM3 protein in their bodies increased. In the control group, this indicator remained unchanged.

What does this discovery mean for medicine?

Dementia is one of the most common diseases in the world, affecting the elderly. In the UK alone, the number of patients diagnosed with dementia exceeds 1 million and is projected to double by 2050. At the same time, there is no effective treatment for the disease today.

The discovery made by the London scientists certainly does not mean that everyone who wants to protect themselves from dementia by repairing synapses should immediately start swimming in cold water. But the scientists believe that the results of their study will give impetus to the development of new drugs that can have a similar effect on the human body, like swimming in cold water. Moreover, cooling of the body to 34 degrees is far from being comfortable and safe for all swimmers, especially if they are beginners in winter swimming.

In addition, shock from immersion in cold water is accompanied by a sharp increase in heart rate and blood pressure, which, against the background of cardiovascular diseases, can cause a heart attack or stroke. Sudden immersion in a cold environment can cause convulsions that put a person at risk of drowning. And the longer you stay in cold water, the more slow and awkward your movements become, which sometimes makes it difficult to get out of the water on your own, which is also extremely dangerous. Therefore, it is important for even experienced swimmers to follow safety rules when going to open water in the cold season. And you should never engage in “winter swimming” alone, in an unknown reservoir or without first making sure that there are no cardiological diseases. But it is quite possible that soon scientists will invent a drug that will increase the level of cold shock protein in the human body without swimming in cold water. Further studies of the natural regenerative abilities of living organisms can bring us many more important and useful discoveries.

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