Sleep Apnea May Increase Risk of Cognitive Impairment
Getting a good night’s sleep is important regardless of your age, but people with sleeping problems are at risk for more than just a lack of energy. Trouble sleeping can not only make you tired during the day, it can also lead to serious health problems.
“Inadequate sleep can affect lifespan and result in multiple health outcomes, such as stroke, heart attack, and mood disorders,” says pulmonologist Ravi Aysola, MD, a sleep expert with the UCLA Health System.
Though we may think of sleep as a relaxed state where the body rests and reenergizes for the challenges of the day, sleep is actually a complex and dynamic state. During sleep, the body goes through a range of physio-logical, psychological, and biochemical processes.
Sleep-disordered breathing
In healthy people, sleep breathing is steady and usually characterized by slower, deeper breaths. But if breathing is interrupted, as is the case with sleep apnea, the impacts can be felt through-out the body. Sleep apnea is a condition in which tissue in the back of the throat relaxes to the point where the air passage becomes narrow, forcing the sleeper to stop breathing for a moment, before resuming a pattern of inhaling and exhaling. People who are overweight and carry extra weight in their necks are at a higher risk for sleep apnea, but the condition can affect anyone from children up through older adults. Dr. Aysola says about one third of all sleep apnea patients are not overweight.
When breathing is frequently interrupted—patients with sleep apnea often aren’t aware they stop breathing throughout the night—brain tissue is intermittently deprived of oxygen, Dr. Aysola ex-plains. Over time, this chronic shortfall in sufficient oxygen in the brain can affect the parts of the brain that affect memory and thought. “This repeated cycling also results in the release of free radicals and oxidative stress, which can damage blood vessels,” he says. Sleep apnea patients face higher risks of hyper-tension, heart attack, and stroke.
Diagnosis and treatment
If you suffer from sleep apnea or another cause of sleep-disordered breathing, your partner may be able to describe your nighttime breathing patterns better than you can. If you struggle to breathe at times or gasp before actually stopping your breathing for a moment, you may very likely have sleep apnea. Other clues include waking up tired, nighttime sweating, and daytime sleepiness, although this can be caused by certain medications or simply insufficient time sleeping, rather than poor quality sleep.
If you have sleep apnea, a leading cause of sleep-disordered breathing, several possible treatments exist. You may have heard of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which uses a machine and a facemask to pump air into your mouth and nose while you sleep. For many people CPAP is a life-saving therapy, though others can never get used to the machine and the mask. Dr. Aysola says if get the mask fitted properly and find a setting that provides a steady flow of air to match your breathing, CPAP is one of the best treatment options available. The key, he says, is to try it for several weeks before deciding whether to stick with it or give up on it.
Other options include oral appliances that adjust the position of the jaw slightly to improve air flow to the throat and lungs.
“If you give CPAP an earnest try and you find that it’s just not going to work for you, don’t let that be a reason not to see the doctor again,” Dr. Aysola says. “When we talk about what’s needed for good health, we always focus on exercise and eating right. Well, sleep should be in the same sentence. About 25 to 30 percent of our lives is spent in the sleep state, so your sleep should be a healthy state.”
Dr. Aysola recommends anyone with concerns about sleep disorders see a sleep specialist. Your primary physician may recommend someone if you’re not sure how to proceed.
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