Snoring, apnea linked to earlier memory decline in elderly

By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – - Older people who have sleep apnea, which can be marked by heavy snoring, tend to begin experiencing cognitive decline about ten years earlier than those without the disorder, or those who use a breathing machine to treat their apnea, according to a new U.S. study. Among older people who developed mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease, those with untreated obstructed sleep breathing began to experience mental loss at an average age of 77, compared to age 90 for those without breathing problems, the study team found. “We found that in those people that reported that they had sleep apnea, and were not treating it, the age of decline was earlier.” Sleep-disordered breathing is very common among the elderly, affecting nearly 53 percent of men and more than 26 percent of women, Osorio and his coauthors write in the journal Neurology. Researchers reviewed the medical histories of almost 2,500 people ages 55 to 90 who were enrolled in a previous Alzheimer’s disease study and reevaluated every six months.



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