Shared from parkinsonsnewstoday.com.
An analysis of electronic health records from 11.3 million U.S. veterans suggests obstructive sleep apnea nearly doubles the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. But early treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the standard therapy for the condition, may cut that risk by about 30%, the study found,
“If you stop breathing and oxygen is not at a normal level, your neurons are probably not functioning at a normal level either,” lead author Lee Neilson, MD, assistant professor of neurology at Oregon Health & Science University and a neurologist at the Portland VA Medical Center, said in a university press release. “Add that up night after night, year after year, and it may explain why fixing the problem by using [continuous positive airway pressure] may build in some resilience against neurodegenerative conditions, including Parkinson’s.”