A study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s August 10 issue reveals that older women who have breathing problems due to sleep disorders are much more likely to develop dementia or cognitive issues than their counterparts who do not have the disorder.
According to the article, sleep-disordered breathing – a condition where a person frequently wakes up during the night and has hypoxia (oxygen deficiency) – is pretty common among older folks.
In fact, it affects up to 60 percent of the senior population. Although the link to dementia has just been uncovered, sleep-disordered breathing has long been linked to numerous health problems including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension.
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