Patients with obstructive sleep apnea may have higher odds of developing Parkinson’s disease, but researchers say early CPAP treatment may lower the risk.
Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, may increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease, a preliminary new study finds. But researchers say treating OSA quickly may help patients protect themselves.
While the study found an increased risk of Parkinson’s, one author says, “the good news is people can do something about it by using CPAP as soon as they are diagnosed with the sleep disorder.”
Sleep apnea occurs when your upper airway becomes blocked, causing breathing to stop and restart while you sleep. CPAP delivers pressurized air through a mask to keep the airway open.
The researchers looked at Parkinson’s rates among millions of veterans with and without sleep apnea and after adjusting for age, sex and health factors such as smoking, they found OSA patients were significantly more likely to develop Parkinson’s within five years.
But the results also showed treatment with a CPAP machine within two years of diagnosis helped lower those odds.
Additional studies are needed to explore the link between sleep apnea and Parkinson’s over longer periods of time.
About 30 million people in the United States have sleep apnea, but only 6 million are diagnosed with the condition.
Source: The results of this study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 77th Annual Meeting in April
Author Affiliations: VA Portland Health Care System
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