According to researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, a 10% decrease in the amount of deep sleep changes people’s brains, increasing white matter as if they were 2.3 years older.
Researchers said lack of deep sleep increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, due to the buildup of toxins and white matter abnormalities, which put pressure on nerve cells in the brain and increase their needs. energy.
And nerve cells unable to respond to these demands die, causing brain cells to shrink, according to the British Daily Mail.
The study involved monitoring 140 people with obstructive sleep apnea, with an average age of 73, who underwent brain scans and spent the night in a sleep lab.
A total of 34% suffered from mild sleep apnea, 32% suffered from moderate, while 34% suffered from severe, knowing that the symptoms of sleep apnea include stopping breathing, emitting sounds such as gasping and snoring, and the feeling of choking, tossing and spinning a lot at night.
“These biomarkers are markers of early cerebrovascular disease,” said Dr. Diego Carvalho of the Mayo Clinic.
“Monitoring for severe apnea and lack of deep sleep are associated with these biomarkers because there is no cure for these changes in the brain, so we need to find ways to prevent them from happening or get worse,” added Carvalho.
“Further research is needed to determine whether sleep problems affect brain biomarkers or vice versa. We also need to examine whether strategies aimed at improving sleep quality or treating sleep apnea can affect the course of these biomarkers.” .
According to the study, whose results were published in the Journal of Neurology, people with severe sleep apnea had more white matter hyperintensity than those with mild or moderate cases, and decreased integrity of brain axons that connect neurons.
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