FLORIDA – A new study from the University of Florida College of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that untreated sleep apnea is associated with a 69% faster decline in cognitive function over 10 years.
Researchers analyzed a decade of Medicare claims and annual cognitive assessments to examine the relationship between sleep apnea and age-related changes in brain function. The study builds on earlier, shorter trials that explored continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) use and cognitive outcomes, including dementia onset.
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“While those with sleep apnea may not see the short-term benefit of using a continuous positive airway pressure machine or related devices, using it for longer, sustained periods can help offset cognitive decline,” Christopher Kaufmann, an assistant professor in the University of Florida Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, said.
Sleep apnea causes people to stop breathing during sleep, often without the sufferer realizing it. Obstructive sleep apnea, the most common type, occurs when soft tissues in the throat collapse and block the airway. Central sleep apnea happens when the brain does not send proper signals to the breathing muscles.
Earlier studies of obstructive sleep apnea treatment and cognition typically lasted about six months, even though cognitive decline develops over years. This study examined effects of up to 10 years of treatment.
“In the sleep apnea world, a CPAP is considered the gold standard,” Kaufmann said, noting wide variability in diagnosis timing and access to treatment. “Increasing access to sleep apnea treatments may have a major impact on cognitive outcomes from a population health perspective.”
There is no cure for dementia, and effective drugs are limited, prompting researchers to focus on modifiable risk factors. Adam Spira, a professor in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the study’s senior author, said the findings add to evidence that obstructive sleep apnea may be a modifiable risk factor for dementia by showing links between treatment and better maintenance of cognitive health.
Researchers estimate that more than 40% of dementia cases worldwide may be attributable to lifestyle factors such as sleep problems.
“If we can make sleep apnea treatment more widely available and give patients the tools to adhere to treatment, then we may be able to help slow cognitive decline or prevent the eventual onset of dementia down the road,” Kaufmann said.
The study also involved researchers from the University of Maryland and the University of California San Diego.