Association Between Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Alzheimer’s disease

As the life expectancy of men and women across the globe increases, the number of patients with dementia is expected to increase dramatically. Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that causes problems with memory, thinking, and behavior. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, to the point of interviewing with daily tasks.

Research is being conducted to find effective treatments for the Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Currently, there is a lack of effective treatments that can slow or reverse the progression of AD. Solutions that can manage risk factors are also being researched. If people are able to delay cognitive deterioration, they may be able to treat these risk factors.

A recent study conducted at the Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona, Italy found an association between the presence of sleep-disordered breathing and Alzheimer’s disease. The study found that a significant percentage of AD patients suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA is a common respiratory disorder that causes people to temporarily stop breathing during their sleep. Each pause in breathing can last from at least ten seconds to several minutes. Because of the stopping in breathing, this can affect blood flow to the brain. OSA can be undiagnosed and may impact the blood flow to the brain for years, therefore promoting cognitive decline onset and progression. Based on these finding, detecting and treating OSA before it comes severe enough to cause irreversible effects on cerebral circulation should be considered an approach to manage risks for AD. It is worth nothing, more research needs to be conducted concerning the association between sleep-disordered breathing and Alzheimer’s.

Your sleeping patterns can have an effect on your cognitive health. Detecting and treating OSA before any damage occurs, may be a way to manage a very real risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Contact FusionSleep for more information about OSA and to schedule an evaluation of your sleeping patterns. You may not be aware that you have this very preventable sleep disorder.