Apnea and other sleep disorders could cause senile dementia, study says

Apnea and other sleep disorders can lead to changes in areas of the brain that are responsible, among other things, for memory and thinking, and increase the risk of dementia, according to a University of Miami study of Latinos in the US. US

The work also reveals that those with lower oxygen levels During sleep they had changes in the deep parts of the brain, the white matter, which is usually common with the decline in brain health that develops with age and that can eventually lead to dementia.

As the university center reminds, these respiratory disorders are a variety of conditions that cause abnormal breathing. during sleepincluding snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, which is when a person stops breathing five or more times per hour.

When breathing stops, it can reduce oxygen levels and affect the brain,” emphasizes the University of Miami.

The research, which has been published in the digital journal Neurology, of the American Academy of Neurology, has been carried out on a sample of 2,667 Latinos, with an average age of 68 years.

Consequences of apnea and sleep disorders

As doctor and specialist Alberto Ramos, author of the study, points out, the choice of the sample is due to the fact that Latinos are at greater risk of suffering from dementia than the non-Latino white American population.

The also research director of the Sleep Disorders Program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine stressed that past studies have found that lower oxygen levels during sleep have been linked to brain shrinkage, while others have found a link to brain growth.

Both brain contraction and growth can damage memory and thinking by altering normal brain functions, increasing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia,” the researcher explained.

The study

In the study led by Ramos, done over ten years, each participant was given a take-home sleep test that measured how often they stopped breathing, called apneas, and how often they breathed. slowly or superficially, called hypopneas.

The researchers also measured oxygen levels in the bloodstream during sleep.

They were then divided into three groups: those who had fewer than five sleep interruptions per hour or no sleep problems; those with between 5 and 15 interruptions, who were considered to have mild sleep problems, and those with more than 15, that is, with moderate to severe sleep problems.

Of the total participants, 56% had no sleep problems, 28% had mild sleep problems, and 16% had moderate to severe sleep problems.

Increases brain volume

After a decade, the participants had brain scans to measure brain volume and the areas of white matter where the brain tissue it could be damaged.

They found that people in the group with the most sleep problems had 0.007 cubic feet more brain volume in the hippocampus than those without sleep problems.

They also found that for each additional sleep interruption, there was an increase of 0.19 cubic feet in brain volume in the hippocampus.

Less oxygen

Those responsible for the research found that the above was related to a lower amount of oxygen during sleep.

Ramos highlights that the findings of this study reflect the need for others to follow patients from middle age or even earlier.

“A clear understanding of how brain volume is affected by sleep apnea and other sleep disorders is essential so that people can receive early and effective treatment, especially in people who may be at higher risk of dementia,” he highlighted.

(With information from EFE)

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