Sleep disorders affect patients ranging from the very young to the very old.  While children with undiagnosed sleep apnea are at risk of being diagnosed with ADHD and treated with drugs, the most elderly in our population may exhibit symptoms that also lead to a wrong diagnosis – dementia or Alzheimer’s. A blog posted this week on the New York Times website illustrates the problem well.

Sleep apnea is under-diagnosed in all age groups according to Dr. Sonia Ancoli-Israel of the University of California,San Diego, “But in older people physicians are even less likely to recognize it.”   There are many reasons for this.  In younger patients sleep apnea is more frequently seen in the obese but in the elderly this is not the case.  When seniors live alone, as many do, no one is there to report the loud snoring and the gasping for air during the night.  There is also the belief that old people are always sleepy during the day, this ignoring another symptom of obstructive sleep apnea.

Not getting enough oxygen to the brain during sleep causes reduced concentration and cognitive decline but Dr. Ancoli-Israel showed in a 2008 study that giving Alzheimer’s patients CPAP machines produced “modest but statistically significant improvements”.  “We didn’t cure dementia, but it wasn’t as severe as before.”

Dr. Ancoli-Israel suggests that anytime an elderly loved one shows signs of dementia that the possibility of sleep apnea should be discussed with their physician.

While the study focused on treating nighttime breathing disorders using CPAP it might be easier for many elderly patients to use an oral appliance.  Oral appliance therapy is highly effective for treating mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea and is suggested for more severe cases when the patient is CPAP intolerant.  The “best” treatment for sleep apnea is the treatment that is actually used.

For more information on treating obstructive sleep apnea using oral appliance therapy in the Columbus Ohio area please contact my office at 614-476-6696.  You and your loved ones deserve a good night’s sleep!