Overview
- Dr Baibing Cheng said loud or nightly snoring may signal sleep apnoea, where breathing repeatedly stops and starts and cuts oxygen to the brain.
- He warned that intermittent hypoxia can damage small blood vessels, a pattern associated with silent strokes and higher dementia risk.
- Cheng cited MRI research suggesting grey matter loss in memory-related regions such as the hippocampus and noted that snoring vibrations can disrupt restorative N3 sleep.
- Coverage references a 2021 study in Sleep reporting higher beta-amyloid in people with clinically verified obstructive sleep apnoea.
- Outlets note this is a public warning rather than new peer-reviewed research, and the NHS advises seeing a GP for symptoms like loud snoring, breathing pauses, gasping or daytime sleepiness.