Sleep-disordered breathing tied to dementia-related brain changes
Cross-sectional study in patients with normal cognition shows changes in parts of the brain commonly affected by Alzheimer's disease
Sleep-disordered breathing in cognitively healthy older adults is associated with brain changes typically seen in Alzheimer’s disease, researchers say.
French researchers analysed data from 127 cognitively unimpaired adults (mean age 69, 63% women): 96 with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and 31 without.
The presence of SDB was associated with significantly increased amyloid burden, grey-matter volume, perfusion and metabolism in the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, brain regions typically involved in Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers report.
“Interestingly, greater amyloid burden was robustly associated with the severity of hypoxia,” they note in JAMA Neurology.
