DB Speed slows down

Hello,

I'm using an Access DB connecting through ODBC with ADO3.6 with VB6.0.
I open the connection once the app is running and only close the connection
once the
user closes the app. If the user updates many times, info and images(as OLE
Object) to
the db, after the 20th time, saving info, or any transaction rather slows
down
more and more until we close the app. and run it again.

Should I open the connection to the DB every time I need to update the
fields or
add new records or simply view info. and then close it again and set the
connection
object to nothing? Would this affect the apps performance? What's the
solution?

Thank in advance.
David