Sleep is essential for both physical and mental health, yet millions of people do not get healthy, restful sleep every night.
One of the most common sleep disorders is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition in which the airway repeatedly becomes blocked during sleep. Each blockage briefly stops or reduces breathing, often causing loud snoring, choking, or gasping.
Many people wake up feeling tired without realizing that their sleep has been interrupted dozens or even hundreds of times during the night. A new study from Monash University suggests that untreated sleep apnea may also affect memory and could increase the risk of dementia later in life.
The research was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia and focused on adults between 40 and 70 years of age. Scientists wanted to understand whether sleep apnea in middle age is linked to changes in memory and other risk factors for dementia before any obvious signs of cognitive decline appear.
The researchers analyzed information from 2,795 volunteers taking part in the Australian Healthy Brain Project. All participants completed online tests that measured memory and thinking skills, along with detailed health questionnaires. The team compared people who had obstructive sleep apnea with those who did not.
The results showed that participants with sleep apnea generally performed worse on memory tests. However, an important difference emerged. People whose sleep apnea was being treated performed much better than those whose condition remained untreated.
In fact, treated participants had memory scores that were similar to people who did not have sleep apnea. This finding suggests that proper treatment may help reduce some of the effects of sleep apnea on brain function.
The study also found that people with sleep apnea were more likely to have other health problems known to increase dementia risk. These included obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. All of these conditions can damage blood vessels throughout the body, including those that supply oxygen and nutrients to the brain.
Although these health conditions explained part of the connection between sleep apnea and poorer memory, they did not explain everything.
Even after taking these risk factors into account, people with untreated sleep apnea still tended to have worse memory. This suggests that repeated interruptions in breathing and lower oxygen levels during sleep may directly affect brain health.
Sleep apnea is very common, especially among people who are overweight or older, yet many cases remain undiagnosed. Because symptoms occur during sleep, many people are unaware they have the condition until a family member notices loud snoring or pauses in breathing.
Doctors can diagnose sleep apnea using sleep studies, and treatments such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, oral devices, weight loss, or surgery can often improve symptoms.
The researchers believe that identifying sleep apnea during middle age may offer an important opportunity to protect long-term brain health. Since dementia develops slowly over many years, treating risk factors before memory problems begin could help lower the chance of future cognitive decline.
This study has several strengths, including its large number of participants and its focus on otherwise healthy middle-aged adults.
However, it was an observational study, meaning it cannot prove that sleep apnea directly causes memory loss or dementia. More research will be needed to determine whether treating sleep apnea actually reduces dementia risk over many years.
Overall, the findings highlight the importance of paying attention to sleep health. Along with controlling blood pressure, cholesterol, body weight, and other cardiovascular risk factors, diagnosing and treating sleep apnea may become an important part of protecting the brain as we age.
Future studies will help determine whether managing these conditions together can further reduce the risk of dementia.
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Source: Monash University.
