sleep apnea and alzheimers

[strangecindy]

I once heard there may be a link to between sleep apnea and alzheimers.  Is there any information supporting this or just a rumor.  

[TheLightSeeker]

Hey stangecindy.

Sleep apnea dx is unfortunately open to debate, due to variability of  the symptoms, making the link to alzheimer's disease a bit of a challenge.

We know that sleep apnea is characterized by low oxygen supply, which could be a co-factor, however the link has not been established scientifically, as there are no large enough studies regarding this particular area of research.

The few smaller studies, show that there's a prevalence of sleep apnea in
mainly female elderly subjects, diagnosed with dementia and with probable
Alzheimer's disease.
PMID: 4008448

So not a rumour to my opinion, but more like anecdotal evidence from small studies.


heartfluttersflyawayplz: Many patients don't even know that they suffer from sleep apnea, as the symptoms may not be so evident or significant.
A 10 second pause in the breathing or very low breathing per every 5 minutes on average(which is the minimum established standard for sleep apnea) is perhaps a little difficult to notice. That's why an overnight sleep study is necessary
( the most important diagnostic criteria is a positive polysomnogram/sleep study).
Sleep apnea runs in my family.

Hope this helps.
Cheers!
Niko

[heartfluttersflyawayplz]

hi, you know i am not really sure . i will research this and see what i can find.  I do know my mom had alz and she would sleep just find, got plenty of it even before she had it so with her i would say NO.

will see what others think on my search. hope you have a great sunday