- A new study analyzes the impact of sleep apnea symptoms on memory and thinking.
- Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that sometimes causes people to stop breathing.
- The study subjects participated in a survey where they reported any symptoms of sleep apnea and difficulty with remembering things.
- The study shows an association between sleep apnea symptoms and a higher rate of memory and thinking problems.
Getting a good night’s sleep is important for many reasons, from having the energy to go about one’s daily tasks to optimal brain performance.
Sleep apnea can interfere with this, and according to the National Council on Aging, it may impact around 39 million adults in the United States.
While experts know sleep apnea can impact quality of life and even contribute to
A researcher based in Boston recently conducted a cross-sectional study to determine whether a correlation between sleep apnea and thinking and memory problems exists.
The findings showed that having sleep apnea symptoms correlated with a 50% increase in memory and thinking problems.
The researcher will present the findings at the American Academy of Neurology’s Annual Meeting in April 2024. The research hasn’t yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Most people with sleep apnea have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but some experts have said that OSA is underdiagnosed.
For instance,
With the notion that sleep apnea could be underdiagnosed in mind, researcher Dr. Dominique Low wanted to learn more about a possible connection between sleep apnea and cognition. Dr. Low works at Boston Medical Center in Massachusetts and is a member of the American Academy of Neurology.
Dr. Low pulled data from a government-funded survey called the 2017–18 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to establish a potential…
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