November 10, 2022 08:10
New scientific findings show a causal relationship between sleep apnea and Alzheimer’s disease.
The term dementia describes memory loss, confusion and progressive deterioration in thinking skills. These defects are caused by the accumulation of toxic proteins in the brain, and preventing this accumulation has been the main therapeutic goal of the disease.
According to RT, a new study led by researchers at the University of Queensland confirms a link between obstructive sleep apnea and an increased risk of dementia.
Professor Elizabeth Coulson, from the University’s College of Biomedical Sciences and Brain Institute, and her team found a causal relationship between low levels of brain oxygen during sleep and neurodegenerative disease.
“We found that in mice, sleep deprivation alone causes only mild cognitive impairment,” Coulson noted. “But we developed a new method for inducing sleep-disrupted breathing and found that mice showed exacerbated pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease. It showed that hypoxia – when the brain is deprived of oxygen – caused The same selective degeneration of neurons that characteristically die in dementia.”
However, it has not yet been determined how varying degrees of hypoxia affect disease risk.
Early human trials are currently underway to examine the relationship between oxygen deprivation and cognitive impairment.
“It is estimated that about 50 percent of older adults have obstructive sleep apnea when the throat muscles intermittently collapse and block the airway during sleep, causing breathing to stop and start,” Coulson said.
Unfortunately, many cases of obstructive sleep apnea go undiagnosed or treated because the most obvious warning signs occur during sleep.
These symptoms include frequent snoring, gasping for air, and silent pauses in breathing that can last from seconds to minutes.
However, other reliable tell-tale signs may appear when you “wake up,” according to WebMD. These include:
• When you wake up with severe or dry throat pain.
• Morning headache.
Dizziness upon waking.
The NHS describes sleep apnea as a condition in which breathing stops and begins intermittently during sleep.
Although episodes of sleep apnea are unlikely to cause serious harm, leaving the condition untreated can lead to more serious problems.
Coulson noted that not everyone with obstructive sleep apnea will develop dementia.
She added: “Some dementia clinicians report that a patient’s memory improves after their sleep problems are identified and treated.” Currently, the most effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea is a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device.
This technology works by keeping the airway open during sleep and allowing oxygen to reach the brain.
Based on the latest scientific findings, the researchers believe the device may have the potential to reduce the risk of dementia in sleep apnea patients.
Source: agencies
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