Treating sleep apnea can reduce dementia risk

A new study found that older adults who received positive airway pressure therapy prescribed for obstructive sleep apnea were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.

Researchers at the Sleep Disorders Centers in Michigan Medicine analyzed Medicare claims from more than 50,000 beneficiaries aged 65 and older diagnosed with OSA. In this nationally representative study, they examined whether 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 with people who did not use positive airway pressure.

“We found a significant association between positive airway use and a lower risk of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia over three years, suggesting that positive airway pressure may be protective against dementia risk in people with OSA,” says lead author Galit Levi Dunietz, Ph.D. .D., MPH, an assistant professor of neurology and a sleep epidemiologist.

The findings highlight the impact of sleep on cognitive function. “If a causal pathway exists between OSA treatment and dementia risk, as our findings indicate, diagnosis and effective treatment of OSA may play a key role in the cognitive health of older adults,” says the study’s lead author, Tiffany J. Braley, MD, MS, an associate professor of neurology.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which the upper airway repeatedly collapses during 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.

And dementia also occurs, with about 5.8 million Americans currently living with it, Braley says.