In a new study, French scientists scanned the brains of older adults. They found an association between sleep apnea and the presence of amyloid plaques and other biological changes associated with inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease. The scientists published their findings in the journal JAMA Neurology.
This is the first study of its kind to use multiple brain imaging methods on a large group of participants from the general community. The researchers found an association between sleep apnea and markers for Alzheimer’s, which may show a common underlying biological mechanism. However, the study did not aim to show causality or whether the people with biological Alzheimer’s markers developed symptoms of dementia.