Sleep apnea may increase Alzheimer's risk and speed up its onset. Untreated sleep apnea is linked to earlier cognitive decline, but treating it could help protect your brain. The condition often goes undetected because symptoms are easy to miss.
We look at this cardiovascular disease, you know, we have a lot of treatments for that, but also people with sleep apnea. We didn't know this back in 08. We know it now. People that have sleep apnea untreated get Alzheimer's on average 10 years sooner, and they're 67% more likely to get Alzheimer's. It's not treatable. Even treating sleep apnea in the early stages of Alzheimer's can actually reverse some symptoms of Alzheimer's. And it's kind of like the hidden disease that you don't know you have. Most people with sleep apnea don't know they're having it because they're sleeping. You don't generally wake up during those apneic events. Maybe your significant other can hear you snoring, hear you choking. They go sleep in another room. And some people even have sleep apnea that are not snoring, but it's very correlated to snoring. So most people with snoring do have some degree of sleep apnea. Even children.