Snoring may increase your AND your partner’s risk of Alzheimer’s and stroke, research suggests
People who snore may have poorer brain health and be more at risk for Alzheimer’s and strokes, as are their partners, a new study suggests.
Those with sleep apnea, which causes loud snoring, were more likely to have biomarkers associated with the conditions, according to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Every 10 percent decrease in the amount of deep sleep changes people’s brains and increases white matter as if they were 2.3 years older.
And there’s growing evidence that less deep sleep increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, through a buildup of toxins that would otherwise be flushed out.
A snoring sleeper can also disrupt their partner’s sleep, preventing them from achieving the deep sleep necessary for brain health
These signs include white matter abnormalities, which put stress on neurons in the brain and increase their energy needs. Neurons that can’t keep up with the demands will die, causing the brain to shrink.
The study involved 140 people with obstructive sleep apnea with an average age of 73 – each had a brain scan and an overnight stay in a sleep lab.
None of the participants had cognitive problems at the start of the study or dementia at the end of it.
Overall, 34 percent had mild sleep apnea, 32 percent moderate, and 34 severe.
Symptoms of sleep apnea include stopping breathing, making gasping and choking noises, and stirring at night, which means people sleep less deeply, which is essential for the brain to eliminate potentially harmful waste products.
One of the markers is small lesions visible on brain scans, known as white matter hyperintensities, which become more common with age or uncontrolled high blood pressure.
Dr. Diego Carvalho of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said: ‘These biomarkers are sensitive markers of early cerebrovascular disease.
“It’s important to establish that severe sleep apnea and a reduction in slow-wave sleep are associated with these biomarkers, as there is no treatment for these brain changes, so we need to find ways to prevent them from happening or make them worse.” become.
“More research is needed to determine whether sleep problems affect these brain biomarkers or vice versa.
“We also need to see if strategies to improve sleep quality or treat sleep apnea can influence the trajectory of these biomarkers.”
The sleep study examined how long people spent in deep sleep, which is considered one of the best markers of sleep quality.
Experts found that for every 10 percent decrease in deep sleep, white matter hyperintensities increase, similar to being 2.3 years older.
Those with severe sleep apnea had more white matter hyperintensities than those with mild or moderate disorders, and the integrity of their brain’s axons that connect nerve cells was reduced.
The research has been published in the journal Neurology.
Dr. Pauline Balagny from the University of Paris-Cité, whose research was published in the journal ERJ Open Research, said: ‘We know that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a major health hazard, but when patients are diagnosed, they are given treatments and advice to limit the risks.
“Our study suggests that OSA is common, but the majority of those affected do not know they have the condition.”
There are five sleep stages, including light sleep, which accounts for about half of our sleeping time. It’s also when we’re most likely to be disturbed by sounds and thus be awakened by a partner’s snoring.
This can mean that we miss stages of deep and REM sleep, which has a detrimental effect on the brain, as the less deep sleep means the brain ages faster.
A separate study from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Paris-Cité, France, claimed that one in five (20.2 percent) of us have sleep apnea, but only 3.5 percent receive treatment.