Sleep: Studies confirm a link between sleep apnea and Alzheimer's disease.

Oct 1, 2020 /--- A new study confirms a long-standing link between sleep apnea and Alzheimer's disease, with the same signs of brain damage found in both cases.
the cause of Alzheimer's disease remains a mystery, amyloid plaques, which are toxic to brain cells, are known indicators of the disease.
new study shows that, like people with Alzheimer's disease, these plaques begin in the same place in the brains of people with obstructive sleep apnea and spread in the same way.
the clinical study, led by RMIT University, was published in the journal Sleep.
lead researcher Stephen Robinson, of The Associated States (Photo: www.pixabay.com), said scientists already know the two diseases are related, but the cause of the link remains unclear.
"Our study is the first to find Alzheimer's-like amyloid plaques in the brains of clinically proven patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
is an important advance in our understanding of the links between these diseases and opens up new avenues for researchers working to develop treatments that promise to prevent Alzheimer's disease.
" Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a serious condition that affects more than 936 million people worldwide, up to 30 percent of whom are elderly.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting up to 70 per cent of people with dementia, and age is the biggest risk factor for the disease.
the new study looked at 34 cases of Alzheimer's disease and 24 samples of sea mass tissue from OSA brains.
study found that in Alzheimer's disease, plaques and tangles first appear in the nearby cortial region, then move into the hippocupus and then spread to the rest of the cortique.
although the study found plaques and tangles in the brains of people with sleep apnea, they were more associated with severe sleep apnea.
In the case of mild sleep apnea, we can only find plaques and tangles in the cortical area near the hippocupus, which was first detected in Alzheimer's disease," said the study's subjects, who did not show clinical symptoms of dementia before they died, suggesting that they may be in the early stages of dementia.
(bioon.com) Source: Research confirms link between sleep apnea and Alzheimer's disease Source: Jessica E Owen et al, Alzheimer's disease neuropathology in the hippocampus and brainstem of people with obstructive sleep apnea, Sleep (2020). DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsaa195.