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" Older women who have difficulty breathing when asleep may be more likely to develop dementia, US scientists have found. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco studied 298 women with an average age of 82.3 years, all of whom were free from dementia at the start of the study. Participants were monitored during their sleep to see whether they suffered from sleep-disordered breathing, which causes oxygen deficiency. They were then followed for around 4.7 years to see whether they developed cognitive impairment or dementia. In total, 35.2 per cent of women were diagnosed with sleep-disordered breathing and the researchers found that 44.8 per cent of these women developed mild cognitive impairment or dementia, compared with just 31.1 per cent of women who breathed normally at night. Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study authors observed: &amp;#039;Given the high prevalence of both sleep-disordered breathing and cognitive impairment among older adults, the possibility of an association between the two conditions, even a modest one, has the potential for a large public health impact.&amp;#039; Dr Anne Corbett, research manager at the Alzheimer&amp;#039;s Society, said that the study built on previous research showing a link between breathing disorders during sleep and an increased risk of dementia. &amp;#039;It is therefore vital that we identify and treat breathing disorders during sleep to help reduce the risk of dementia in later life,&amp;#039; she added. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/conditions/brain-and-nervous-system/news/a21336/sleep-disorders-linked-to-increased-dementia-risk-in-older-women/>