Recently I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and while looking up if there is any connection between it and PD found the following article ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Would be interested to know if there are others on this site diagnosed with sleep apnea.
My husband had Parkinson's but when they tried to do a sleep study, he was unable to fall asleep for long at the testing center so the test was inconclusive. He did have vivid dreams however and that is a common symptom under sleep disorders and PD.
Faridaro
That link is to a letter to the magazine editor and questions the research findings. I do too. I dont think sleep apnea causes PD but I do think people with PD have more sleep apnea than the general population. I suspect that it is the PD causing the apnea.
I was diagnosed with sleep apnea about 6 years ago. Three years later I was diagnosed with PD. I know at least two or three other PWP with sleep apnea. Interestingly, we are all relatively young (considered young onset).
wow that's weird. I've just recently been diagnosed with sleep apnea and I've been diagnosed with young onset PD for a year and a half.
That is interesting.... Are you going to use CPAP?
I've actually already started. I've used it almost a month and I'm amazed at the difference it's made for me in the mornings. I used to be so bad in the morning that I couldn't do anything until my sinemet kicked in. I would even have freezing. Now I'm much more functional in the mornings 😊
It would be interesting to see if it's really common with young onset. I'm surprised my Neuro had me do a sleep study because I wasn't tired at all during the day even though I didn't sleep much. Now I actually sleep more.
There is a well-established correlation between lack of deep sleep (slow delta wave sleep) and the development of PD (long-term large scale epidemiological studies) and between sleep apnoea and lack of deep sleep. I suspect that the link between PD & sleep apnoea is simply a reflection of the importance of deep sleep.
I have a close family member with PD. I am also co-developer of a new sleep device designed to prompt deep sleep (for any poor sleeper). It is being trialled in Plymouth with people with PD and a dozen or so other people with PD have tried it, most successfully. At this stage, our device is quite expensive to make, and our resources limited. Would one or two UK based poor sleepers like to try the device for a month, and report their experiences to this group? If so, please let me know. Here's a link - youtube.com/watch?v=Qe9JtwZ... - more on YouTube
My husband had sleep apnea and Parkinson's.
It is called REM Sleep Disorder. Sleep just doesn't go deep enough.
I was diagnosed with PD and Sleep Apnea three years ago.
Sleep apnea is a neurological disorder. I don't know if there's a direct link causing PD. I have sleep apnea and am being evaluated for central apneas related to my dysautonomia.
I believe Sleep apnea is caused by the pd not the other way around. You would have had early pd for a number of years before diagnosis.
Dysautomnia is also part of PD.
If One Believes that Parkinson's disease is simply one of the subdivisions of old age disease,
Learn r sleep apnea, Tremors, stiffness, digestive system problems, Etc simply various manifestations of old age disease?
Love > hate
Coot dont you think Old age disease is only relevant to some types of PD. What about those that get diagnosed in their 20’s and 30’s
It seems to me that Parkinson's is an umbrella diagnosis since there are subgroups of Parkinson's with variety of different symptoms. In reality some of them might be Lyme disease or undiagnosed B12 deficiency or some other affliction like mold poisoning or gut dysbiosis which are difficult to diagnose hence all are diagnosed as PD. Since B12 deficiency increases with "old age" because of the diminished gastric intrinsic factor which is needed to metabolize B12, so some cases of PD might be related to old age but others might be triggered by other toxic/viral/bacterial exposure and show up at a young age. Just my subjective unscientific theory, I am not a medical professional so I could be wrong.
This is my take, taken from the link.
Parkinson's disease (PD), the second most frequent neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease (six million patients world-wide), is generally diagnosed after 60yrs. It causes motor problems, such as bradykinesia, resting tremor, rigidity and postural instability, but also affects autonomic functions and cognition.
PD results mainly from progressive degeneration of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra in the brainstem and accumulation of proteins in surviving dopamine neurons, known as Lewy bodies. .
Symptoms appear when 50–70% of dopamine neurons have been lost. So the population of undiagnosed asymptomatic people is probably large. No treatment can slow progression of PD; levodopa and dopamine agonists only relieve symptoms.
academic.oup.com/hmg/articl...
So there are always motor symptoms and there are criteria for diagnosis. Not sure if all those you quote fit the criteria. Genes are significant too especially in some young onset.
Yes, this is the official statement on PD. However, the following link shows how tricky diagnosis can be :
medscape.com/viewarticle/82...
Here is quote from the article: "The clinical signs of PD (tremor, rigidity, slowness, gait disorder, and so on) are not unique to the disease but also can be found in many other disorders including other neurodegenerative disorders."
And you are right, genetics play a significant role especially in young onset, however, MTHFR variant which I have (and seems to be quite common) also predisposes people for various metabolic problems and Parkinson's was one of about 20 other diseases listed for this particular genetic mutation, and some of those listed (like Alzheimer's) are considered to be diseases of old age.
So, the subject is very complicated and now new research shows that beside the loss of dopamine neurons there are other factors that contributes to the disease progression. Since I've been diagnosed with Lyme, I've read about cases of people being diagnosed with neurological diseases like MS and even ALS only to find out later that they have Borreliosis (Lyme) which can mimic many degenerative diseases and is called a 'great imitator' see link
parkinsonsresource.org/gene...
Undiagnosed B12 deficiency also can cause a lot of neurological symptoms including tremors, difficulty walking and keeping balance. Unfortunately, serum B12 levels don't always reflect functional B12 in the tissues/cells, the "normal" range is very broad and there is no worldwide consensus on it, so the B12 deficiency can be tricky to diagnose.
I read your linked article
also found this:
"and smoking appears to be protective"
?????????????????
I know that sound strange but statistics do show that smokers have lower risk of developing PD.
If diagnosed at a "young" age, it simply means their body started deteriorating earlier than those of us diagnosed in our sixties. All the more reason to live today as if it were your last day in this earthly existence. God decided their gift of PD should begin sooner.
Love > hate
I believe sleap apnoa has a connection with Parkinson’s
I am 49 years old 12 years with PD and 5 years with sleap apnoa!
Three months a go I had a nose surgery and my birthing improved and next week I will remove toneceles!
Hoply after this surgery I would no more use the sleeping machine
Wili
I was diagnosed with sleep apnea prior to being diagnosed with parkinson's. Currently using cpap.
Does getting more sleep ever worsen PD symptoms?
Parkinson's may progress more overnight - what do you use to help you get a good night sleep?
Methylphenidate for \"Parkinson's\"
Help in understanding drugs in Parkinsons
Beds for Parkinson's 
