Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Its Treatment, and Alzheimer's Disease: Systematic Mini-Review

Chih-Yun Kuo; Hung-Ta Hsiao; Ing-Hsien Lo; Tomas Nikolai

doi:10.3389/fnagi.2020.591737

Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Its Treatment, and Alzheimer's Disease: Systematic Mini-Review

Front Aging Neurosci. 2021 Jan 6:12:591737. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2020.591737. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Chih-Yun Kuo¹, Hung-Ta Hsiao², Ing-Hsien Lo², Tomas Nikolai¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology and Centre of Clinical Neuroscience, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University, Prague, Czechia.
² Soteria Biotech Co, Ltd., New Taipei City, Taiwan.

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are common in the elderly population. Obstructive sleep apnea that may cause significant changes in the cerebrospinal fluid β-amyloid and T-tau and/or P-tau protein levels is often identified as a risk factor for development of AD. Although the underlying mechanisms of AD are still not fully understood, a hypothesis associating OSA with AD has been already proposed. In this systematic mini-review, we first discuss the recent findings supporting the association of OSA with an increased risk of AD and then provide evidence suggesting the positive effect of OSA treatment on a reduced risk of AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; OSA treatment; cerebrospinal fluid-CSF; continuous positive air pressure; obstructive sleep apnea (OSA); sleep disturbance and sleep disordered breathing.

Publication types

Systematic Review