Scientists at Oregon Health & Science University and others examined the medical records of American veterans. They found that people with obstructive sleep apnea were significantly more likely to later be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The findings also suggest that treating sleep apnea early with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) may reduce the chance of developing this neurodegenerative condition.
“Effective screening measures and protocols for consistent adherence to CPAP could have a major impact on brain health,” the researchers wrote in their paper published Monday in JAMA Neurology.
Dangers of sleep apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, is the most common form of sleep apnea. This happens when the airway muscles physically obstruct a person’s breathing during sleep. Although these attacks of respiratory failure are transient, in some cases they may occur hundreds of times a night. Loud snoring is a common symptom of sleep apnea, although not all people with sleep apnea snore, and not all regular snorers have sleep apnea.
OSA can continually deteriorate our health over time because it subtly disrupts our sleep (the body wakes up for brief periods to breathe) and can cause long-term decreased oxygen levels that is harmful to the heart and brain. OSA is suspected to increase the risk of various conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, and brain damage. Some research has also suggested that OSA may affect the risk of Parkinson’s, a neurological condition that gradually destroys nerve cells, reducing our ability to move and remain coordinated. But researchers say the evidence so far for this connection is mixed, so they tried to take a closer look using data from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
They analyzed the health records of nearly 11 million adults over the age of 40 who received care through the VA between 1999 and 2022. About 14% of people were diagnosed with OSA. And researchers found that compared with not having sleep apnea, OSA was associated with nearly twice the risk of developing Parkinson’s. Importantly, this pattern held true even after the researchers accounted for other potentially relevant factors such as body mass index, vascular health problems, and certain psychological conditions.
“In this EHR-based cohort study, OSA appeared to be an independent risk factor for the subsequent development of PD,” the researchers wrote.
CPAP is a ray of hope
Although this retrospective study cannot definitively show that sleep apnea causes Parkinson’s, it does provide more evidence of a significant association between the two conditions. And the team’s other findings may offer a ray of hope for people who suffer from or are concerned about sleep apnea.
The researchers also compared the outcomes of people with OSA who were or were not placed on CPAP, an effective and gold-standard treatment for the condition. They found that people who went on CPAP within two years of their initial diagnosis were significantly less likely to develop Parkinson’s. This result indicates that keeping apnea under control may help prevent or at least delay the progression of Parkinson’s.
“Having sleep apnea does not guarantee that you’re going to have Parkinson’s,” study co-author Greg Scott, a pathologist and brain aging researcher at OHSU and the Portland VA, said in a statement from the university. “But it increases your risk — and CPAP appears to cut it back down.”
Given how dangerous sleep apnea can be to our health, it is important to treat it. Doing this now is more stimulating for both your sleep and your brain.
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