Sleep disorders in adults with down syndrome

Sleep disorders, despite being very frequent in adults with Down syndrome (DS), are often overlooked due to a lack of awareness by families and physicians and the absence of specific clinical sleep guidelines. Untreated sleep disorders have a negative impact on physical and mental health, behavior,...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Giménez, Sandra|||0000-0001-8031-2319, Altuna-Azkargorta, Miren|||0000-0001-9709-5314, Blessing, Esther, Osorio, Ricardo M., Fortea, Juan|||0000-0002-1340-638X
Format: article
Publication Date:2021
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:269706
Online Access:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/269706
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.3390/jcm10143012
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Down syndrome
Aging
Sleep disorders
Obstructive sleep apnea
Insomnia
Alzheimer's disease
Description
Summary:Sleep disorders, despite being very frequent in adults with Down syndrome (DS), are often overlooked due to a lack of awareness by families and physicians and the absence of specific clinical sleep guidelines. Untreated sleep disorders have a negative impact on physical and mental health, behavior, and cognitive performance. Growing evidence suggests that sleep disruption may also accelerate the progression to symptomatic Alzheimer's disease (AD) in this population. It is therefore imperative to have a better understanding of the sleep disorders associated with DS in order to treat them, and in doing so, improve cognition and quality of life, and prevent related comorbidities. This paper reviews the current knowledge of the main sleep disorders in adults with DS, including evaluation and management. It highlights the existing gaps in knowledge and discusses future directions to achieve earlier diagnosis and better treatment of sleep disorders most frequently found in this population.