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Sleep Apnea Linked to Higher Dementia Risk
4 Feb
Summary
- Sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of dementia.
- Brain oxygen deprivation during sleep can cause neurodegeneration.
- Mice with induced sleep-disrupted breathing showed Alzheimer's pathology.
Research published in 2022 revealed a significant connection between obstructive sleep apnea and an elevated risk of developing dementia. Scientists have identified a causal relationship between insufficient oxygen supply to the brain during sleep and the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.
Experiments using mice indicated that while sleep deprivation alone resulted in minor cognitive issues, deliberately inducing disrupted breathing patterns led to worsened pathological features mirroring Alzheimer's disease. This finding underscores that hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, is responsible for the specific degeneration of neurons characteristic of dementia.
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