 is a fairly common condition which involves the walls of a person's throat becoming narrower when they sleep. The result is a distorted way of breathing, which can cause sleep interruption and snoring. People suffering with OSA often report poor sleep, which can greatly impact their overall health. It's been widely reported that OSA also increases a person's risk of developing heart conditions. OSA can increase a person's blood pressure and also cause a recurrent heart attack or stroke. Now new research further warns the impact of OSA as a link to dementia has been found. Dementia is a brain degenerative condition with researchers warn could be increased if suffering with a certain sleep disorder ( Getty Images/iStockphoto) Professor Elizabeth Coulson and her team from the University of Queensland's brain institute and School of Biomedical found the link between the sleep disorder and the brain degenerative condition dementia. In a study conducted on mice, researchers found the deprivation of oxygen caused mild cognitive impairment. 'We developed a novel way to induce sleep-disrupted breathing and found the mice displayed exacerbated pathological features of Alzheimer's disease,' Professor Coulson said. 'It demonstrated that hypoxia – when the brain is deprived of oxygen – caused the same selective degeneration of neurons that characteristically die in dementia.' The team are now wanting to look at the next step to help determine what levels of hypoxia result in brain decline among humans. 'It's estimated around 50% of elderly people have obstructive sleep apnoea, when their throat muscles intermittently collapse and bl){kind=link}
We are all aware of how not getting enough sleep will impact your health negatively but for those suffering with obstructive sleep apnoea, their risk for serious health outcomes is far greater including a risk to dementia warns a new study
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a fairly common condition which involves the walls of a person’s throat becoming narrower when they sleep.
The result is a distorted way of breathing, which can cause sleep interruption and snoring.
People suffering with OSA often report poor sleep, which can greatly impact their overall health. It’s been widely reported that OSA also increases a person’s risk of developing heart conditions.
OSA can increase a person’s blood pressure and also cause a recurrent heart attack or stroke.