閉塞性へいそくせい睡眠時すいみんじ無呼吸症候群むこきゅうしょうこうぐんと脳内のうない微小出血びしょうしゅっけつの関連性かんれんせい――認知症にんちしょうリスク増大ぞうだいへの警鐘けいしょうと治療ちりょうの重要性じゅうようせい

Although many people are aware of the severity of their own snoring, there are quite a few who do not feel the need to get checked immediately.

Furthermore, even when CPAP therapy is recommended as a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea OSA, many people tend to avoid it due to the inconvenience of this method.

However, according to the latest research, it has been found that neglecting OSA carries a risk of developing dementia or Alzheimers disease in the future.

In this observational study, it was revealed that moderate to severe OSA increases the risk of developing new cerebral microbleeds.

According to Jonathan Graff-Radford, Professor of Neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, microbleeds in the brain tend to increase with age, and people with this condition have been found to be at higher risk of stroke and progression of cognitive decline in the future.

All factors that increase microbleeds are deeply related to the brains aging process, he emphasized.

OSA is a disorder in which soft tissues become lax or thickened, causing airway obstruction and disrupted breathing during sleep. This is different from central sleep apnea syndrome, where breathing signals from the brain stop.

Treatment methods include the use of continuous breathing assistance devices such as CPAP, as well as surgery.

Professor Rudy Tanzi, who is the head of the Department of Genetics and Aging at Massachusetts General Hospital and also a professor of neurology at Harvard University, was not involved in this study, but emphasizes the importance of screening and treating OSA.

He warned that leaving OSA untreated not only increases the risk of cerebral hemorrhage, but also raises the risk of developing Alzheimers disease in the future.

Furthermore, the decline in sleep quality caused by OSA may not only accelerate brain aging, but also increase the risk of dementia through the occurrence of microbleeds.

Therefore, it must be said that underestimating OSA means facing a double risk.