Rachel Fieldhouse
Body

Are you a snorer? It could be affecting your quality of life

A new study suggests that people over 70 who have abnormal breathing while they sleep could be more likely to have a lower quality of life in relation to their physical health and lower cognitive function.

The research, published in the journal Respirology, saw 1400 people over the age of 70 take part in a sleep study to check for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) - usually related to snoring - followed by a questionnaire assessing their mental and physical health.

The team found that 80 percent of participants had some kind of disordered breathing during sleep, with more men having moderate to severe difficulties than women (36 versus 25 percent).

Though they didn’t find an association between SDB and depression or daytime sleepiness - which are commonly associated with SDB among middle aged people - an association was found between SDB and lower measures of cognitive function.

They also found an association between SDB and obstructive sleep apnoea, along with a lower score for physical health, which the authors say is novel as this link has only been found in people under the age of 70.

The link between SDB and dementia was also explored by the team, since SDB causes the brain to be temporarily deprived of oxygen, resulting in an increased heart rate and changes in blood pressure that could cause additional neurodegenerative damage.

SDB also disrupts sleep, which helps the body to clear neurotoxins such as beta-amyloid, a  protein that can build up between nerve cells,disrupt cell function and cause symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Though they did find associations between moderate to severe SDB and delayed recall among men - which they say could “predict incident dementia due to Alzheimer’s Disease” - the researchers note that more data over longer periods of time would be needed to establish this association.

“Whether treatment of SDB is a reversible factor towards the development of dementia remains to be seen,” the authors conclude.

 As for the quality of life for people over 70, the team suggest that, since SDB is common among this age group, treating SDB can improve quality of life, and that assessments of quality of life and cognitive function could be used to decide how to treat SDB in the first place.

Image: Getty Images

Tags:
Body, Alzheimer's Disease, Snoring, Over 70s