Abstract 
 
 Objective: To examine whether the presence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with an earlier age at mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer disease (AD)-dementia onset in participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort. We also examined whether continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) use is associated with delayed onset of cognitive decline. 
 
 Methods: From the ADNI cohort, 3 subsets with progressively stringent criteria were created in a step-wise manner. Age at MCI or AD-dementia onset was the main outcome variable. Analyses were performed separately for each subset in untreated SDB+ vs SDB− and untreated SDB+ vs CPAP+ groups. Chi-square and t tests were performed to examine between-group differences. Survival analyses were performed using the Kaplan–Meier method, compared by the log-rank test, and assessed by multivariate Cox regression adjusting for potential confounders. 
 
 Results: SDB+ patients had a younger age at MCI onset in all subsets (MC1: 72.63 vs 83.67; MC2: 72.15 vs 83.45; MC3: 77.40 vs 89.89; p < 0.01). SDB+ patients had a younger age at AD-dementia onset only in our most conservative subset (AC3: 83.46 vs 88.13; p < 0.05). In a combined outcome analysis, SDB+ patients had a younger age at onset to MCI or AD-dementia in all subsets. In subsets 1 and 2, CPAP use delayed the age at MCI onset (CMC1: 72.63 vs 82.10; CMC2: 72.11 vs 82.10; p < 0.01). ||||| MINNEAPOLIS - Heavy snoring and sleep apnea may be linked to memory and thinking decline at an earlier age, according to a new study published in the April 15, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The research also suggests that treating the disorders with a breathing machine may delay the decline. 
 
 "Abnormal breathing patterns during sleep such as heavy snoring and sleep apnea are common in the elderly, affecting about 52 percent of men and 26 percent of women," said study author Ricardo Osorio, MD, with the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York. 
 
 For the study, the medical histories for 2,470 people ages 55 to 90 were reviewed. Participants were categorized as either free of memory and thinking problems, in early stages of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or with Alzheimer's disease. 
 
 The researchers also looked at people with untreated sleep breathing problems versus those without the sleep breathing problems and also untreated versus treated people with sleep breathing problems. 
 
 The study found that people with sleep breathing problems were diagnosed with MCI an average of nearly 10 years earlier than people who did not have sleep breathing problems. For example, when researchers examined only people who developed MCI or Alzheimer's disease during the study, those with sleep breathing problems developed MCI at an average age of 77, compared to an average age of 90 for those who did not have sleep breathing problems. Among that group, those who had sleep breathing problems also developed Alzheimer's disease five years earlier than those who did not have sleep breathing problems, at an average age of 83 versus 88. 
 
 The researchers found that people who treated their sleep breathing problems with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine were diagnosed with MCI about 10 years later than people whose problems were not treated, or at age 82 instead of age 72. 
 
 "The age of onset of MCI for people whose breathing problems were treated was almost identical to that of people who did not have any breathing problems at all," Osorio said. "Given that so many older adults have sleep breathing problems, these results are exciting--we need to examine whether using CPAP could possibly help prevent or delay memory and thinking problems." 
 
 Osorio noted that more research is needed. "These findings were made in an observational study and as such, do not indicate a cause-and-effect relationship," said Osorio. "However, we are now focusing our research on CPAP treatment and memory and thinking decline over decades, as well as looking specifically at markers of brain cell death and deterioration." 
 
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 The study was supported by Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, the National Institute of Health's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Foundation for Research in Sleep Disorders and James B. Kuhn. 
 
 To learn more about brain health, please visit http://www. aan. com/ patients . 
 
 The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 28,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. 
 
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 Media Contacts: 
 
 Rachel Seroka, rseroka@aan.com, (612) 928-6129 
 
 Michelle Uher, muher@aan.com, (612) 928-6120
– If you're prone to heavy snoring or sleep apnea, you could also be prone to something a lot more serious: memory and mild cognitive decline, including Alzheimer's, at a much earlier age. So say researchers out of New York University in the journal Neurology. They studied 2,470 people with an average age of 73 and found that those with breathing disorders during sleep experienced some form of cognitive decline more than a decade before those without the breathing problems (at age 77 instead of age 90). "We need to increase the awareness that sleep disorders can increase the risk for cognitive impairment and possibly for Alzheimer's," the lead author tells the New York Times. But all is not lost: Those who treated their breathing disorders with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, however, were able to delay mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's by roughly 10 years, the researchers report in a press release. "The age of onset of (mild cognitive impairment) for people whose breathing problems were treated was almost identical to that of people who did not have any breathing problems at all," says the author. "Given that so many older adults have sleep breathing problems, these results are exciting." (Snoring and sleep apnea are linked to these health problems, too.)