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Treating Sleep Apnea may Lower Dementia Risk

by Colleen Fleiss on Apr 12 2021 8:42 AM

Older adults who are prescribed positive airway pressure therapy for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may be less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia.

Treating Sleep Apnea may Lower Dementia Risk
Older adults who are prescribed positive airway pressure therapy for obstructive sleep apnea may be less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia, suggested study.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a condition in //which the upper airway collapses repeatedly throughout the night, preventing normal breathing during sleep.

OSA is associated with a variety of other neurological and cardiovascular conditions, and many older adults are at high risk for OSA.

For the study, published in the journal Sleep, the research team analyzed Medicare claims of more than 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older who had been diagnosed with OSA.

In this nationally representative study, they examined if those people who used positive airway pressure therapy were less likely to receive a new diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment over the next three years, compared to people who did not use positive airway pressure.

The findings stress the impact of sleep on cognitive function.

"If a causal pathway exists between OSA treatment and dementia risk, as our findings suggest, diagnosis and effective treatment of OSA could play a key role in the cognitive health of older adults," said researcher Tiffany J. Braley from the varsity.

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