Home Tags Posts tagged with "sleep apnea"

sleep apnea

0

Carrie Fisher, best known for her Star Wars role as Princess Leia, died from sleep apnea and “other factors”, the Los Angeles County coroner says.

The 60-year-old’ death certificate said in January that she had suffered a cardiac arrest.

However, in a statement the LA coroner said the exact cause was unknown.

Photo Flickr

Sleep apnea is a common condition in which a person stops breathing during sleep, either for a few seconds or minutes.

As well as listing sleep apnea as a cause of death, the coroner’s statement cited other factors, including heart disease and drug use.

Carrie Fisher’s manner of death would be listed as undetermined, it said.

She had been on tour promoting her book The Princess Diarist when she was taken ill on a flight from London to Los Angeles on December 23.

Carrie Fisher never regained consciousness and died on December 27 at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre.

Her mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, died the following day.

0

According to a study published in the journal Neurology, people who have difficulty breathing while asleep (sleep apnea) are more likely to develop memory problems early on.

US scientists checked medical databases involving 2,400 people aged over 55.

Those who said they suffered from sleep apnea reported problems with their memory and thinking skills a decade earlier than people who slept well.

Further work is under way to clarify the link. It adds to growing evidence poor sleep is associated with illness.

Scientists involved in a large Alzheimer’s research project in the US looked specifically at volunteers who said they experienced sleep apnea.

In this condition the muscles around the throat relax and can block the airways, making it hard to breathe.

Patients often snore loudly and wake up several times a night.

Researchers are concerned in some cases this could mean vital organs – including the brain – are at risk of not getting the oxygen they require.

Scientists found people with the condition were more likely to report memory and thinking problems in their late 70s, on average 10 years before those who breathed easily while asleep.

The small number of patients who received treatment – using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine that keeps the airways open and forces air in – did not report memory problems early on.

Researchers are now conducting larger studies to see whether CPAP therapy could help preserve memory and thinking power.