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June 27, 2008
Sleep Apnea Linked to Memory Loss
Study Finds the Disorder Shrinks Brain Cells Much the Same Way Alcohol, Alzheimer’s do

People with sleep apnea show tissue loss in brain regions that help store memory, according to US researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.
(Neuroscience Letters, June 27, 2008)

These findings demonstrate that impaired breathing during sleep can lead to serious brain injury that disrupts memory and thinking.
People with sleep apnea stop breathing and awaken repeatedly during the night, leading to chronic daytime fatigue and memory and concentration problems. Research has linked sleep apnea to an increased risk of stroke, heart disease and diabetes.
In this study, the UCLA team used MRI to scan the brains of sleep apnea patients. The researchers focused on brain structures called mammillary bodies, located on the underside of the brain.
The study found that the mammillary bodies of the 43 sleep apnea patients were almost 20 % smaller than those in 66 people without sleep apnea.
Repeated drops in oxygen experienced by sleep apnea patients may lead to brain injury. The lack of oxygen during an apnea episode can cause brain cell death.
The reduced size of the mammillary bodies suggests that they've suffered a harmful event resulting in sizable cell loss. The fact that patients' memory problems continue despite treatment for their sleep disorder implies a long-lasting brain injury.
The findings are important, because patients suffering from memory loss from other syndromes, such as alcoholism or Alzheimer's disease, also show shrunken mammillary bodies. Physicians treat memory loss in alcoholic patients with massive amounts of thiamine, or vitamin B1. The researchers suspect that the dose helps dying cells to recover, enabling the brain to use them again.
The researchers plan to study whether taking supplemental vitamin B1 can help restore memory in sleep apnea patients. The vitamin moves glucose into cells, which prevents their death from oxygen starvation.

Other news in this month

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- Blood Sugar Level Important in Diabetes-Free People. June, 2008
- Periiodontal Disease Increases Cancer Risk June, 2008