Heavy snoring increases chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Scientist team at the Leeds University has found that snoring reduces the flow of oxygen to the brain and hence can cause Alzheimer’s.
Professor Chris Peers led researchers have also discovered that people who have had strokes, heart attacks or head injuries are vulnerable to Alzheimer’s in later life. The study says such people are at greater risk of developing the disease even if they have made an apparently full recovery at the time, it could have repercussions decades later.
Repercussions could really be bad for people who snore heavily, whose sleep patterns are such that there will be times in the night when their brain is hypoxic, that is, deprived of sufficient oxygen. Such a state can stop the heart and lungs from working up to their optimal capabilities particularly if astrocytes, a group of brain cells are deprived of adequate oxygen. Under normal conditions, brain makes connections through the release of tiny amounts of chemical across the synapses, which are then mopped up by the astrocytes, an exercise that protects them from becoming toxic, which result in Alzheimer’s.
A 42% of the Britons snore and the men outnumber the women, according to the British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association.
More than 7,00,000 people in the UK suffer from Alzheimer’s. It is predicted that the number of people with dementia will more than double by 2050 because of the increased life expectancy rate.
Alzheimer’s is a fatal and incurable brain disease that can take nearly three decades to develop. Once a person crosses 65, the chances of developing the disease doubles every five years.
Alzheimer’s Society has welcomed the research because it sheds more light on the workings of the brain and helps explain the causes of Alzheimer’s further. Though, the study comes as a bad news for heavy snorers, yet it might help in finding a cure for the disease.
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Via:Dailymail