A new study carried out by a team of scientists at New York University Langone Medical Center (USA) suggests that loud snoring and sleep apnea can affect the brain, causing impaired memory and thinking at a young age . The work has been published in the journal Neurology .
Throughout the study , the medical records of 2,470 adults between the ages of 55 and 90 were analyzed , classifying them into three groups: with Alzheimer’s, in the early stages of cognitive decline, or without memory problems. Also examining those untreated or undiagnosed people with sleep-disordered breathing, they found that people with sleep-disordered breathing were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) almost 10 years earlier than those without breathing problems at the time of sleep .
Thus, cognitive impairment was shown at the age of 77 in those who did have sleep breathing problems and at 90 in those who did not. Regarding Alzheimer’s, the difference was five years.
“Abnormal breathing patterns during sleep, such as loud snoring and sleep apnea are common in older people, affecting about 52% of men and 26% of women, ” explains Ricardo Osorio, leader of the study.
On the positive side, another of the study’s conclusions revealed that treating disorders with a breathing machine can delay memory decline: “The age of onset of MCI for people whose breathing problems were treated was almost identical to that of people without any breathing problem. Given that so many older adults have sleep breathing problems, these results are exciting . We have to examine whether the use of CPAP could help prevent or delay memory and thinking problems, ”explains Osorio.
