by btrupp
30. August 2011 07:21
New findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association show that, over a five-year period, elderly women with sleep apnea are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia when compared to women without sleep apnea.
The main reason is because sleep apnea causes gaps in breathing, leading to lower oxygen levels in the blood, which can damage the brain and other organs. However, this does not mean that sleep apnea causes dementia, but dementia often develops due to a lack of oxygen to the brain. Many people with various forms of dementia also have sleep apnea.
Earlier studies suggested oxygen therapy for patients with both Alzheimer's and sleep apnea might slow the mental decline, but this new research shows it might delay the onset or possibly prevent it all together.
Although only women were studied in this research, the same negative effects are believed to occur in the brains of men.