People suffering from a common sleep disorder may be at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, a new study has shown.
A team from New York University School of Medicine has concluded that having obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in later life may put us at greater risk of developing the dreaded cognitive disease.
Described by the NHS website as a ‘relatively common’ condition, OSA causes the walls of the throat to relax and narrow during sleep, interrupting normal breathing.
Symptoms of OSA include loud snoring, noisy and laboured breathing, and repeated short periods where breathing is interrupted by gasping or snorting. Some sufferers may also experience night sweats and may wake up to urinate more frequently at night.
In the study of over 200 participants aged 55-90 with ‘normal’ cognition, the team found that volunteers who suffered from OSA had higher levels of plaque-building peptides associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
‘Results from this study, and the growing literature suggesting that OSA, cognitive decline and AD [Alzheimer’s disease] are related, may mean that age tips the known consequences of OSA from sleepiness, cardiovascular, and metabolic dysfunction to brain impairment,’ said study author Dr Ricardo S.Osario in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
‘If this is the case, then the potential benefit of developing better screening tools to diagnose OSA in the elderly who are often asymptomatic is enormous.’
If you’re concerned that you may be suffering from OSA, the good news is that the condition is treatable.
According to the NHS website, treatment options can include lifestyle changes, including losing weight, and the use of special devices to prevent the airways from closing during sleep.
If you’re concerned about OSA or your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, speak to your GP.
