Is Sleep Apnea Stealing Your Brain’s Power?

According to a recent study, OSA may contribute to early cognitive decline. But what is OSA? A person experiences frequent breathing interruptions while sleeping in a common sleep disorder known as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). As a result, the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain could drop. When a person has obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), their airway occasionally becomes obstructed for at least 10 seconds while they are asleep. Common symptoms include snoring loudly while asleep, daily fatigue, and morning headaches that last a long time, and disturbed sleep overall, all of which can be extremely difficult for patients and their partners.

Co-morbidities typically link cognitive deficits in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. But here’s what the new development is. For the first time, experts have entirely blamed OSA for the early onset of cognitive decline in middle-aged non-obese males.

Let’s Understand the Study

Basically, 27 men between the ages of 35 and 70 who had mild to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) but no other health issues like diabetes or cardiovascular disease were evaluated by Rosenzweig and his colleagues. Seven guys in a control group who had no OSA were also studied. The Watch PAT test and video polysomnography were the two approaches the researchers used to verify the OSA diagnosis.

According to the study, patients with severe OSA performed worse cognitively than those in the control group regarding vigilance, executive function, and memory. Those with mild OSA performed better than severe OSA patients.

But why did this happen? Well, the authors hypothesised that in OSA patients:

• intermittent low oxygen
• high carbon dioxide levels in the blood
• alterations in blood flow to the brain
• fragmented sleep
• and neuroinflammation

are to blame for the cognitive abnormalities.

The good news about this is that OSA is typically treatable with direct lifestyle modifications, like eating healthier, working out more, and reducing weight.

So, Where Does This Study Leave Us?

Rosenzweig claims that although we still don’t fully understand how these many elements impact the brain, they appear to alter both brain shape and function. Overall, thinking, emotional, and other cognitive issues may result from this.

This study, according to Rosenzweig, is just the beginning and raises the possibility that other health issues may worsen cognitive issues brought on by OSA.