Sleep apnoea linked to Parkinson's risk

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-11-25 03:00

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Obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition in which people briefly stop breathing during sleep, may increase your risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a study of US veterans. The research looked at the health records of 11 million people and found that those who had been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea had a small increase in the risk of Parkinson's disease - around 1.6 extra cases per 1000 people. The study found that treating the sleep apnoea early, with a breathing device called a CPAP, could reduce the risk.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Neurology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Portland VA Medical Center, USA

Funder: This work was supported by Veterans Affairs Biomedical laboratory research and development (BLR&D) (CDA2 BX005760), the John and Tami Marick Family Foundation, the Collins Medical Trust Award (to Dr Scott), VA clinical science research and development (CSR&D) (CDA2 CX00253, to Dr Neilson), VA rehabilitation research development Merit (I01RX004822, I01RX005371), and Department of Defense (DoD) Congressionally directed medical research programs (CDMRP) Parkinson’s Research Program (#HT9425-24-1-0774) (to Dr Elliott), the DoD (#HT9425-24-1-0775), VA CSR&D Merit I01 CX002022, BLRD Merit I01 BX006155 (to Dr Lim), the National Institutes of Health National Institute on Aging (P30AG066518) (to Drs Lim and Scott), and military exposures research program (MERP) supplement to BLRD Merit I01 BX006155 (to Drs Scott and Lim).

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