Study Links Sleep-Disordered Breathing to Age Acceleration

A study in Sleep found that the growing severity of sleep-disordered breathing and sleep disruption are connected to epigenetic age acceleration, reports ScienceDaily . "Individuals whose biological age is higher than their chronological age exhibit age acceleration or fast aging," said Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's Xiaoyu Li. The preliminary results of the study demonstrated that each standard deviation elevation in the apnea-hypopnea index, a measure of sleep-disordered breathing severity, was linked to the equivalent of 215 days of biological age acceleration. Furthermore, each standard deviation increase in the arousal index, a measure of sleep disruption, was associated with the equivalent of 321 days of age acceleration. This linkage also was stronger in women than in men, suggesting women may be particularly susceptible to the negative consequences of sleep-disordered breathing. The researchers suggested future study should concentrate on whether treatment mitigates epigenetic age acceleration among those with sleep-disordered breathing.