The UK has nearly one million people living with dementia – a group of diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, that damage the brain resulting in memory loss, problems with language, confusion and other symptoms. The Alzheimer’s Society projects that 206,000 more people will be diagnosed with the condition this year. A new study has shown that there are links between dementia and obstructive sleep apnoea.
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Sleep apnoea and dementia
Researchers at The University of Queensland found a causal relationship between a lack of oxygen to the brain during sleep and Alzheimer’s disease in mice. Professor Elizabeth Coulson from Queensland Brain Institute who led the team said, the findings show an increased Alzheimer’s risk among people who suffer from sleep apnoea.
We found sleep deprivation alone in mice caused only mild cognitive impairment. But we developed a novel way to induce sleep-disrupted breathing and found the mice displayed exacerbated pathological features of Alzheimer’s disease.
According to Prof Coulson, they found that hypoxia – when the brain is denied of oxygen – resulted in the same decline of neurons that typically die in dementia.
Human trials
It’s estimated around 50 per cent of elderly people have obstructive sleep apnoea, when their throat muscles intermittently collapse and block the airway during sleep causing their breathing to stop and start. In the study published in the publication, Nature Communications, the researchers said the next step would be to establish this in humans.
The current standard treatment for this sleep condition is a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine, which keeps the airway open during sleep and allows oxygen to the brain. Professor Coulson said the findings could change the way dementia clinicians diagnose and treat their patients.
We couldn’t fit CPAP to mice, but we experimentally prevented the hypoxia and this stopped the cognitive impairment and neuron death, and also reduced the Alzheimer’s pathology. This suggests that CPAP treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea has the potential to reduce dementia risk.
Sources used:
The University of Queensland Australia: UQ study explains link between sleep apnoea and dementia
Bright Focus Foundation: Sleep Apnea and Dementia
Michigan Health Lab: Treating Sleep Apnea May Reduce Dementia Risk
