Obstructive Sleep Apnea and the Risk of Cognitive Decline in Older Adults.

We present how new discoveries from animal models, human sleep experiments, and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers point to an active role of disturbed sleep in dementia pathogenesis. We show preliminary data on how sex, genetics, physical exercise and cognitive reserve can strengthen or weaken the association between obstructive sleep apnea and dementia. We present preliminary results of obstructive sleep apnea treatment, which can slow, stop or reverse neurodegenerative processes accentuated by obstructive sleep apnea, even in individuals already affected by a neurodegenerative disease. We propose future research directions that include studies on mild/moderate untreated obstructive sleep apnea, the evaluation of continuous positive airway pressure treatment to slow neurodegeneration and follow-up studies of older patients that measure predictors/markers of dementia. PMID: 30113864 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Am J Respir Crit Care Med Source Type: research