In the study, Cortese’s team studied 16 adult non-smokers who were diagnosed with OSA and compared them to eight control subjects without the condition to assess the impact of OSA on epigenetic age acceleration over a one-year period.
After a baseline blood test, the OSA group received continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment for one year before being tested again.
“Our results found that OSA-induced sleep disruptions and lower oxygen levels during sleep promoted faster biological age acceleration compared to the control group,” Cortese said.
“However, the OSA patients who adhered to CPAP showed a deceleration of the epigenetic age, while the age acceleration trends did not change for the control group.
“Our results suggest that biological age acceleration is at least partially reversible when effective treatment of OSA is implemented.”
