Breaking News Round-Up

We already know that if we don’t get quality sleep, we are putting ourselves at risk for developing Alzheimer’s Disease, and new research posits that sleep apnea, specifically, is a risk factor.

“Sleep apnea occurs when the upper section of the throat collapses repeatedly, blocking the breath and forcing the person to awaken briefly,” writes Wynne Parry in a press release about the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine study.

The sleeper’s brain gets less oxygen, stressing the body.

“What’s good for your heart is good for your head. If you’re not getting the oxygen, you’re going to have potential death of tissue, but certainly impairment,” nurse practitioner Patti Kodzis told ADRC, in our article about improving sleep. (If you haven’t read it, give it a look, here!)

The study examined brain changes 10 years after participants were tested for sleep apnea.

MRIs revealed evidence of small blood vessel damage and swollen hippocampi among those who weren’t sleeping well, the press release states.

“We have come to understand that sleep is really intertwined with the neurological processes driving Alzheimer’s and similar dementias. The idea is that maybe we can identify those at high risk for sleep-related dementia and develop treatment strategies that can help us prevent it based on what we are observing in studies like this,” said study author Alberto Ramos.

If you need a sign to hit the gym, a John Hopkins Medicine study suggesting a connection between muscle loss and dementia just might be it.

Researchers examined the temporalis muscle of 621 people and found that those on the smaller end were 60% more likely to experience Alzheimer’s or another expression of dementia.

“Measuring temporalis muscle size as a potential indicator for generalized skeletal muscle status offers an opportunity for muscle quantification without additional cost or burden in older adults who already undergo brain MRIs,” officials said.

Researchers are exploring whether or not infections might instigate Alzheimer’s Disease.

“I think it’s very unlikely that just one type of microbe – an ‘Alzheimer’s germ – is a cause. Instead, growing evidence suggests that a number of different microbes all can trigger Alzheimer’s in some people,” says Dr. Anthony Komaroff in a Harvard Health Letter article.

Herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, and SARS-CoV-2 — the viruses associated with herpes sores and COVID-19, respectively – may be yoked to Alzheimer’s, the article states.

The bug behind chickenpox and shingles, varicella-zoster virus, could also be linked to dementia symptoms.

Gum and gut bacteria could also play into Alzheimer’s pathogenesis.