Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, is a sleep problem that many people around the world have. It happens when the muscles in your throat relax too much during sleep. This causes your airway to get blocked for a short time, which makes it hard to breathe.
People with OSA often snore loudly, sleep restlessly, feel very tired during the day, and sometimes wake up with headaches. These problems affect not just the person who has OSA, but also their partner, because both may get poor sleep.
A new study by researchers from the UK, Germany, and Australia found that OSA can harm the brain, especially in men aged 35 to 70—even if they are healthy and not overweight. The study showed that men with OSA had trouble with thinking, memory, and social skills.
They found it harder to make decisions, remember things they saw, stay focused, and control their actions. Some also had trouble understanding other people’s feelings, which can make social interactions harder.
The study looked at 27 men with OSA who didn’t have any other health issues like heart problems or diabetes. This is rare because most people with OSA also have other medical conditions. As a comparison group, the researchers also studied seven men of similar age, weight, and education level who didn’t have OSA.
To understand how OSA affected the brain, scientists used many tests. These included sleep tests, brain scans, oxygen level checks, and measurements of heart rate and breathing. The results showed that men with severe OSA did worse on thinking tests than those without OSA. Even men with mild OSA had more trouble than healthy men.
This shows that OSA alone, without any other diseases, can cause problems with the brain. Experts think this happens because OSA causes lower oxygen levels during sleep, raises carbon dioxide levels, affects blood flow to the brain, disturbs normal sleep, and causes swelling in the brain. But researchers are still not sure exactly how all these changes lead to thinking problems.
In the future, more research will try to understand whether health issues like high blood pressure or diabetes, which often happen with OSA, make brain problems even worse.
This study is important because it shows that sleep apnea should not be ignored. Even if someone feels healthy, untreated OSA can still harm their brain over time. This makes early diagnosis and treatment very important.
To protect your brain, it’s also helpful to stay active, eat healthy foods, and control other health problems. Getting good sleep is a key part of keeping your mind sharp. Avoiding smoking and too much alcohol also helps your brain stay healthy.
Finally, learning about how conditions like OSA or even COVID-19 can affect your brain can help you take early steps to stay mentally strong.
The study was led by Dr. Ivana Rosenzweig and published in the journal Frontiers in Sleep. It gives us important information about how sleep affects brain health, especially in middle-aged men.
If you care about sleep health, please read studies about foods that help people sleep better, and Keto diet could improve cognitive function in people with sleep loss.
For more health information, please see recent studies about the natural supplements for sound sleep, and how your diet can improve sleep quality.
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