The IAA One Minute Blog

A small study suggests that sleep apnea, a disruptive breathing disorder, may also prompt a decline in brain health among middle-aged men.

Sleep Apnea and Men

Prior research has consistently chalked up any mental impairment observed among obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients to those conditions that present jointly with OSA. These include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular, and other metabolic diseases.

The new study findings suggest that OSA may be sufficient for thinking capacity changes to occur as early as middle age, even in otherwise healthy individuals. The decline can manifest as significant memory loss, less impulse control, impaired spatial reasoning, and/or an inability to focus and think clearly.

For the study, the researchers decided to track the mental status of 27 male OSA patients who did not have any additional medical issues. All were between the ages of 35 and 70. Sixteen patients were diagnosed with mild OSA and 11 had severe sleep apnea. None had a current smoking habit or drinking problem, and no one was obese.

No women were included in the analysis.

The study authors performed a battery of thought processing tests among the pool of OSA patients, as well as among a comparison group of seven men who did not have sleep apnea. The result: patients with either mild or severe sleep apnea fared notably worse on the tests compared with the men who did not have OSA. Specifically, OSA patients scored more poorly in terms of short-term visual memory skills, the ability to remain vigilant, and the ability to plan and make decisions, and the ability to “read” emotions and social situations. The more severe their sleep apnea, the worse the patient performed, according to the report.

The research team noted that between 15 percent and 30 percent of all men have sleep apnea.

The findings were published in the journal “Frontiers in Sleep.”

Symptoms of Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. The most common symptoms of sleep apnea include:

• Awakening with a dry mouth
• Difficulty paying attention while awake
• Episodes in which the person stops breathing during sleep
• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Gasping for air during sleep
• Insomnia
• Irritability
• Loud snoring
• Morning headache

It is estimated that as many as 26 percent of adults in the United States ages 30 to 70 have sleep apnea, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

What IAA has to Say

Insurance Administrator of America wants you to take sleep apnea seriously. IAA wants you to have a healthy night’s sleep.