Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Association to Neurocognitive Impairment. Therapeutic Strategies and Priorities
Abstract
Mudasar Hassan, Ali Mahmood Khan, Hema Madhuri Mekala and Rizwan Ahmed
Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) refers to a fairly common, multisystem chronic disorder which results due to reoccurring partial as well as total pharyngeal obstruction in the course of sleeping. OSA presents with typical symptoms such as excess sleepiness, involvement in vehicle accidents due to falling asleep at the wheel and some degree of systemic hypertension. There has been indication of an indirect connection between excess daytime sleepiness and the future incidents of cognitive decline and dementia.
Aim: The main aim of this review is provision of a current summary of the knowledge and practice on diagnosing and treating patients with OSA and associated neuro-cognitive deficit disorders.
Methodology: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology was used for doing a review of relevant published literature.
Results: This review shows that there is a definite association between OSA and associated neuro-cognitive deficit disorders due to the pathophysiological changes caused by OSA.
Conclusion: The evidence from this review underlines the importance of early identification of cognitive decline (using neur0-imaging and other tests), definite diagnosis and subsequent proper choice of treatment and management options (in accordance with the associated comorbidities presented by the patient) so as to lower morbidity and mortality rates.