Could Be Dementia, Could Be … Sleep Apnea?
Some seniors may be able to stay out of care facilities longer just by getting their sleep apnea treated, suggests The New York Times blog The New Old Age. This common sleep disorder, in which you stop breathing periodically while sleeping, can cause symptoms that mimic dementia. It can also worsen symptoms of real dementia.
Since sleep apnea makes itself known while you’re asleep, many people don’t know they have it. Even worse, the elderly are more at risk for the disorder yet less likely to be diagnosed with it, The New Old Age reports.
Why? Apnea in younger people frequently coincides with obesity; in elderly patients, that’s less often true. Loud snoring, often a tip-off, may go unnoticed when seniors live alone. And, as [sleep apnea researcher Sonia Ancoli-Israel] pointed out, “there’s a belief that old people are supposed to be sleepy during the day.”
They’re not, and one reason she wants them and their caregivers to recognize the problem is the now-established connection between apnea and cognitive decline. “If you’re waking up hundreds of times a night and you’re not getting enough oxygen to the brain, of course you’ll see the effect,” Dr. Ancoli-Israel said.
According to the post, “When Sleep Apnea Masquerades as Dementia,” treating sleep apnea may help ease cognitive problems that aren’t dementia-related and may somewhat improve some that are.
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When we would visit Mom and Bernie, it became pretty clear that Bernie–then in his late seventies–had a roaring case of sleep apnea. We mentioned it to him and Mom and to his doctor, but no one seemed to be very concerned. We looked into local sleep clinics–the closest one was 60 miles away and in another state. The idea of convincing Bernie that there would be a reason to sleep away from home and be observed by medical people all night was ludicrous. And then there was the question of whether he could ever be persuaded to wear the equipment–well, you can imagine.
Our experience is a great argument for catching sleep apnea early and bringing in the “big guns” to push for diagnosis and treatment, because it is a widespread and serious problem.
Carol
Inside Aging Parent Care
Hi, Carol. Thank you for sharing this. You bring up good points about the difficulty of getting someone to a sleep clinic and then to wear the equipment. The article does address the latter a bit and suggests that even if a person doesn’t wear it all night, they often wear it enough to make a difference. But if you can’t get them to wear it at all, that’s another story, eh?
Leigh Ann Otte
Blogger, OurParents