MADRID, 5 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A team of researchers from the Center for BrainHealth, the University of Texas and A&M University, in the United States, is studying the relationship between breathing rate during sleep and cognitive function, and how an intervention on snoring affects the brain health suggests that wearing a dental snoring device may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s, as published in the journal Geriatrics.
The researchers argued that a good night’s sleep plays an essential role in regulating brain health by removing waste material and toxins that build up. Although there are many things that can disturb sleep, one of the most common causes is snoring or other respiratory problems that cause obstructive sleep apnea.
The team found that the maximum respiratory rate can be used to distinguish healthy individuals from people with mild cognitive impairment and those with Alzheimer’s disease. They were also able to show that a dental device to reduce snoring improves the cognitive function of individuals with mild cognitive impairment.
The team’s pilot study involved 18 people between the ages of 55 and 85 with a history of snoring. About a third of the participants had mild cognitive impairment and another third had Alzheimer’s disease.
To examine the relationship between an individual’s breathing rate and cognitive function, the participants slept at home while portable recorders collected data on their breathing rate, heart rate, and snoring. Doctors from the Center for BrainHealth assessed the participants’ memory, executive function, and attention.
The team found that the maximum respiratory rate during periods of uninterrupted sleep can differentiate healthy individuals from those with Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment.
“We observed three different patterns between groups of people, which means that we can look for a respiratory pattern that could predispose individuals to suffer from dementia,” says Dr. Emet Schneiderman, co-author of the study and professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Faculty. of Dentistry from Texas A&M University.
Determining respiratory rate is cheaper and faster than other existing assessments to measure an individual’s cognitive function and could be an effective testing alternative. “
The researchers also looked at whether the ‘myTAP’ mouthpiece, which is placed in the mouth at night to prevent snoring, affects respiratory rate and cognitive function. For four weeks, the participants wore the device at night and their snoring decreased.
After the intervention period, cognitive function -especially in the area of memory- no longer differed between healthy individuals and those with mild cognitive impairment. This suggests that better sleep improves cognition in individuals with mild cognitive impairment.
“If we can make significant changes in individuals with mild cognitive impairment, we can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease,” says Das, who is now a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School’s McLean Hospital.
Although the team did not observe an overall difference in the cognitive function of the participants with Alzheimer’s disease, the researchers are hopeful that the intervention may work.
On an individual level, half of the participants with Alzheimer’s disease saw improvements in their cognitive function. “Brain neurogenesis is a slow process, so these individuals may need a longer period of time with the intervention to see significant cognitive changes,” says Das.
Alternatives to medications to treat snoring, such as dental braces, may help individuals sleep better and improve their cognitive function. Sleep medications give individuals the impression that they have slept well, when in reality the brain never enters a deep phase of sleep, essential for the cleansing process to remove toxins from the body.
And now it appears that alternative treatments, such as this dental appliance, could produce significant changes in cognition before mild cognitive impairment progresses to Alzheimer’s disease.
“Oral appliances could have a wide range of applications, as sleep is affected by many different things in many different age groups,” says Das. Perhaps the appliances could help individuals sleep better by reducing mental health symptoms caused by poor sleep before severe deterioration of neurocognitive symptoms. “
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