Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a chronic condition in which there are repeated blockages in the throat causing pauses in breathing. If there are more than five of these events per hour of sleep, each event lasting 10 seconds or longer, a patient is diagnosed with OSA. Some patients have events every minute during sleep; some have events lasting 60 seconds or longer. We have patients whose events last longer than 90 seconds. And most of these patients are unaware of this deadly condition. A patient whose events lasted over 90 seconds was completely unaware of OSA and only came in for a consultation because his wife couldn’t stand for his loud snoring any more.

OSA is usually accompanied with loud snoring and daytime tiredness. But the effects on the patient’s health are extreme. My website, www.NwSleepDoc.com lists many of them.

But today, I want to talk about one thing that happens to the brain of patients with OSA. Each OSA event that a patient has reduces oxygen flow to the brain resulting in reduction in the amount of gray matter in the brain as well as reduction in the amount of white matter in the brain. Depending on the severity of the patient’s OSA, this damage to the brain may result in such things as memory problems (often confused with “senior moments”), difficulty concentrating, irritability, forgetfulness, moodiness, etc. Don’t lose hope — if these symptoms are caused by OSA, they can be reversed. According to the two studies referenced below, both the gray matter of the brain and the white matter of the brain were increased after successful treatment of the patient’s OSA. Of course, this doesn’t mean the complete elimination of those “senior moments” but may reduce the number of them.

Remember, snoring is the big warning sign that you need to be tested and treated to prevent or reverse the damage that OSA can cause to the brain. Testing for OSA is easy and can be done in your own home.

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Dr. Donald Johnson founded Northwest Treatment Center for Snoring & Sleep Apnea in Coeur d’Alene to help patients stop their snoring and live free with no limits! Obstructive sleep apnea is usually able to be treated with a small oral appliance. Dr. Johnson’s office is at 114 W. Neider Ave., near Costco. The website for more information is www.NWSleepDoc.com and the office phone is (208) 667-4551. Schedule a free consultation appointment today!

Obstructive sleep apnea: brain structural changes and neurocognitive function before and after treatment. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2011 May 15;183(10):1419-26.

White Matter Integrity in Obstructive Sleep Apnea before and after Treatment by Vincenza Castronovo, Ph.D., et al.