Sleep apnea is a common disorderin which one or more pauses in breathing (or shallow breaths) occur duringsleep. A new study conducted by researchers from the Universityof California San Francisco (UCSF) and California Pacific Medical Centerhas found that elderly women who suffer from the condition may be at a greaterrisk for cognitive impairment and dementia. The findings of theanalysis were recently published in the Journal of the American MedicalAssociation
The results of the studyindicated that female participants who suffered from sleep apnea and othersleep disorders that affect breathing had a much greater likelihood ofdeveloping cognitive problems within a five-year period.
Although it has long beenknown that sleep apnea and other sleep disorders are linked to memory loss anddementia, the new study is one of the first to provide strong evidence that suchdisorders could be a cause, rather than an effect of cognitive impairment.
According to lead studyauthor Dr. Kristine Yaffe, a professor of psychiatry, neurology andepidemiology at UCSF, “The extent of information has been limited before,because the studies were based on people with advanced dementia who, surprise,surprise, had sleep problems. It’s been hard to tell what’s the chicken andwhat’s the egg.”
She added, “This study isn’tproof-positive, but it’s much stronger than earlier studies,” and furthernoted, “What we’re seeing is a nearly twofold increase of having cognitiveproblems five years later.”
The research involved 298women with an average age of 82, among whom none suffered from dementia at thestart of the study. The researchers evaluated a variety of sleep disorders, accountingfor factors such as the number of hours participants slept and how often thesleep disorders disrupted their rest.
In addition, among those withsleep apnea, the researchers took into consideration how frequently their breathingstopped during sleep hours.
For More Updates, follow us on 
and 