In a recent study from RMIT University, scientists confirmed long-suspected links between sleep apnea and Alzheimer’s disease, finding identical signs of brain damage in both conditions.
While the cause of Alzheimer’s disease remains a mystery, amyloid plaques that are toxic to brain cells are known indicators of the disease.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a serious condition that occurs when a person’s breathing is repeatedly interrupted during sleep.
OSA is increasingly common, affecting more than 936 million people worldwide and up to 30% of elderly people.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, affecting up to 70% of all people with dementia, with age the biggest risk factor for developing the disease.
The current research showed these plaques start in the same place and spread in the same way in the brains of people with obstructive sleep apnea, as in those with Alzheimer’s.
Significantly, the severity of sleep apnea was linked with a corresponding build-up of amyloid plaques.
The team found that treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) – the standard approach for moderate to severe sleep apnea—made no difference to the amount of plaques found in the brain.
The team examined the extent of Alzheimer’s-like indicators in autopsy tissue from the hippocampus of 34 people and the brainstems of 24 people with OSA.
They looked for both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, another known indicator of Alzheimer’s disease.
The hippocampus is the part of the brain associated with memory.
In Alzheimer’s disease, plaques and tangles first appear in a nearby cortical area and then move into the hippocampus, before spreading to the rest of the cortex.
While the study found both plaques and tangles in the brains of people with sleep apnea, the plaques showed a stronger association with severe sleep apnea.
The next stage for the team will be to continue analyzing these samples to get a full understanding of neuropathology, including signs of inflammation and changes to the blood vessels that supply nutrients to the brain.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies about the root cause of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s, and 5 steps to protect against Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that herb rosemary could help fight COVID-19, Alzheimer’s disease, and results showing this stuff in mouth may help prevent Alzheimer’s.
The study was conducted by Professor Stephen Robinson et al and published in Sleep.
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