Scientists from Iceland are sure: it's all about toxic products accumulated in the brain due to lack of oxygen.

Sleep apnea stops breathing and resumes several times. The person snores, sleeps restlessly, and then feels sleepy all day. Sleep apnea is more common in men, the elderly, and obese people, writes MedicalNewsToday.

Sleep apnea is directly related to decreased attention during the daytime, poor memory. It is a long recognized risk factor for dementia..

Now experts have studied postmortem biomaterial from people with apnea and found that the severity of their condition correlates with a decrease in the volume of the hippocampus, a part of the brain closely associated with memory.. It also atrophies in patients with Alzheimer's syndrome..

In brain samples, a team of scientists discovered the presence of amyloid plaques associated with sleep apnea. It turned out that with apnea, plaques appear in the same places and? spread in the brain in the same way as in people with Alzheimer's. In this case, the size of the plaques correlates with the severity of sleep apnea..

In addition, the number of rapid eye movements and phases of slow wave sleep are reduced in both Alzheimer's disease and apnea..

Researchers believe that in apnea, repeated bouts of oxygen deprivation may trigger oxidative stress, leading to accumulation of amyloid plaques in the hippocampus. Thus, sleep apnea makes these areas more vulnerable to the causative agent of Alzheimer's disease..

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