Link Between Sleep Apnea Treatment and Reduced Parkinson’s Disease Risk

Treating obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was associated with a substantially lower incidence of Parkinson’s disease in a large U.S. veterans electronic‑health‑record analysis.

The investigators analyzed electronic health records from more than 11 million U.S. veterans to evaluate incident Parkinson’s disease after obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis and early treatment. Treated OSA—defined by early CPAP use—was associated with a substantial reduction in incident Parkinson’s disease after adjustment for available covariates.

Both mild and severe OSA were linked to higher Parkinson’s disease risk in this cohort. Repeated nocturnal hypoxia and resultant mitochondrial dysfunction offer a biologically plausible mechanism connecting sleep‑disordered breathing with neurodegeneration; mitigating intermittent hypoxia with CPAP provides a credible pathway for the observed risk reduction.