My DH was diagnosis with MCI last year and has done a number of tests. One of the things that was found was he suffers from sleep apnea and was told to get and use a CPAP machine. He has been using it faithfully for the last year and now his numbers are up and he is more alert and get this he is learning "new things". I thought if you had dementia that you could no longer learn new things. The RPnurse said it's too bad that he didn't have his O2 stats measured and that it could be the cause of his decline over the last few years. He is 74 and he is fading but now it looks like normal ageing or is it just wishful thinking on my part. His is still a mean controlling old man but now I wonder what's going on.
Amber, My DH was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea the year before we started the diagnostic process for the memory, etc. And, it did improve his sleep quality, his focus and concentration. And sleep apnea means your sleep is constantly interrupted so a lot of that makes sense. Better sleep means better concentration and all those cognitive processes. But, it will only improve to the extent that better sleep can improve them. For my DH, in spite of the use of the CPAP, his cognitive abilities improved some over a short time period. Overall, after a year, his cognitive problems continued to increase. We then looked for another cause. I suspect that without sleep apnea, he would have functioned better for a little longer. In the long run, it wasn't the cause of all of his problems.
It is a known fact that sleep apnea can cause dementia, that is why it is so important to get diagnosed before problems arise. I pushed my son, age 33, to get tested cause his wife said he stops breathing. When I told him when you stop breathing it causes the brain to not get oxygen momentarily. Over time it causes brain cells to die. In this type of brain cell death, it is possible for new ones.
My husband's neuro ordered a sleep study after his scores went down in just 6 months. He does have it and I notice with the CPAP he does have more clarity, but he still is having memory problems. I do hope your husband continues to improve. He may not have AD at all - time will tell.