Snoring link to brain damage

If you or your partner snores, beware - it could be a sign of brain damage.

Researchers have found that some cases of snoring are linked to a particular problem which can cause brain damage and memory loss.

A new study reveals that a common breathing disorder, accompanied by snoring, can result in a loss of brain cells.

The discovery could explain why the condition, called sleep apnoea, has been linked to memory and learning difficulties.

Sleep apnoea occurs when the airways become blocked by the tongue or soft palate, causing snoring.

Deprived of oxygen, the sleeper typically wakes up suddenly with a snort. This can happen repeatedly during the night, disrupting sleep patterns.

Mary Morell, from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London, scanned the brains of seven people with the disorder, and seven without it.

She found that sleep apnoea patients had lower concentrations of grey matter in the hippocampus than non-sufferers.

The hippocampus is a brain region that plays a key role in memory.

Morell told New Scientist magazine: "What I found surprising was such a clear-cut result in such a small sample of people."

Her findings will appear in a future edition of the journal Sleep Medicine.

In rats, lack of oxygen at night has been shown to cause memory and learning problems, possibly because of brain damage similar to that observed by Morrell.

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