![\"Terrifying](\"http:\/\/blueheronhealthnews.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Sleep_28081923_m-2015.jpg\")
We\u2019ve long known there is a connection between sleep apnoea and Alzheimer\u2019s. But how it connects and how strong has been somewhat of a mystery.<\/p>\nWe\u2019ve long known there is a connection between sleep apnoea and Alzheimer\u2019s. But how it connects and how strong has been somewhat of a mystery.<\/p>\n
A new study from the American Thoracic Society<\/em> and published in The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine<\/em> sheds some terrifying light on this.<\/p>\n More precisely, the researchers showed what sleep apnoea can do to your brain in just two years.<\/p>\n The researchers recruited 208 participants between ages 55 and 90, none of whom had been diagnosed with or treated for either sleep apnoea or dementia.<\/p>\n Importantly, none of them suffered from heart disease or any other health condition known to affect brain function. They then used lumbar punctures and positron emission tomography (PET) to test the amount of amyloid beta in their cerebrospinal fluid and brains.<\/p>\n 104 of the participants were again tested after two years to assess their levels of sleep apnoea and amyloid beta.<\/p>\n Amyloid beta progressively built up over the two years in those with sleep apnoea. Those with the worst sleep apnoea severity also had the worst amyloid beta build-up in their brains.<\/p>\n Why does this happen?<\/p>\n It\u2019s simple, sleep apnoea robs your brain of oxygen throughout the night. And Alzheimer\u2019s and other types of dementia are directly caused by oxygen deprivation.<\/p>\n
\nAt the beginning of the study, the scientists gave them a home sleep recording device to obtain a sleep apnoea diagnosis.<\/p>\n