So, a person whose slow-wave sleep decreased by 20 percentage points had the white matter hyperintensity amounts of a person 4.6 years older.įurther, each 10-point decrease in slow-wave sleep lowered axonal integrity equal “similar to the effect of being three years older.” The more severe a person’s sleep apnea was, the higher volume of white matter hyperintensity and lower axonal integrity their brains had. These increases were the equivalent of being 2.3 years older. However, researchers’ findings do suggest declining brain health.įor every 10-point decrease in deep sleep a person experiences, white matter hyperintensities increased. None of the participants developed dementia during the study. Why? Because time spent in this stage is a good indication of sleep quality. The latter looked at the duration people spent in “deep sleep” (also known as non-REM stage 3 or slow-wave sleep). The pool was split fairly evenly between people with mild (34%), moderate (32%), and severe (34%) sleep apnea.Įach participant had undergone a brain scan and overnight sleep study in a lab. Every participant had obstructive sleep apnea but did not have dementia before the study. The study included 140 people with an average age of 73. The link between sleep apnea and Alzheimer’s, dementia “Studying the brain effects of lifestyle factors demonstrates that what we do matters and really makes a difference in how successfully we age.” “Your family history of Alzheimer’s and your genes do not define your destiny for brain aging,” says David Merrill, MD, Ph.D., an adult and geriatric psychiatrist and director of the Pacific Neuroscience Institute’s Pacific Brain Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif. One sleep expert believes studies like this one are critical to raising awareness about brain health, sleep apnea, and ways people can reduce their risk for adverse outcomes (and developing the condition in the first place). “Finding that severe sleep apnea and a reduction in slow-wave sleep are associated with these biomarkers is important since there is no treatment for these changes in the brain, so we need to find ways to prevent them from happening or getting worse.” Carvalho, MD, MS, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology in a media release. “These biomarkers are sensitive signs of early cerebrovascular disease,” said study author Diego Z. Researchers suggested that individuals with sleep apnea who spend less time in deep sleep are more likely to have brain biomarkers associated with a heightened risk of stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and cognitive decline. The research, published Wednesday in the online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, involved looking at sleep factors and biomarkers of brain health. Now, a new study is associating sleep apnea with poorer brain health, too. The CDC suggests that people with sleep apnea have a greater risk for cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure), stroke, coronary heart disease, and irregular heartbeats. However, it’s more than a pesky, inconvenient problem. The sleep disorder sleep apnea is often - but not always - hallmarked by snoring, a nuisance for bed partners.
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