Sleep disturbances as risk factors for neurodegeneration later in life

Simmonds, Emily, Levine, Kristin S., Han, Jun, Iwaki, Hirotaka, Koretsky, Mathew J., Kuznetsov, Nicole, Faghri, Faraz, Solsberg, Caroline Warly, Schuh, Artur, Jones, Lietsel, Bandres-Ciga, Sara, Blauwendraat, Cornelis, Singleton, Andrew, Escott-Price, Valentina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1784-5483, Leonard, Hampton L. and Nalls, Mike 2025. Sleep disturbances as risk factors for neurodegeneration later in life. npj Dementia 1 , 6. 10.1038/s44400-025-00008-0

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Abstract

The relationship between sleep disorders and neurodegeneration is complex. Using >1 million electronic health records from Wales, UK, and Finland, we mined biobank data to identify relationships between sleep disorders and neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs). Additionally, we investigated how sleep attributed risk may compensate for lack of NDD genetic risk. We found that sleep disorders were associated with risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, dementia, Parkinson’s disease (PD), and vascular dementia in three national biobanks (hazard ratios from 1.3 (PD) to 5.11 (dementia)). Sleep disorders imparted risk up to 15 years before NDD onset. Sleep factors were independent of AD and PD genetic risk, potentially compensating for low genetic risk in disease etiology. Poor sleep hygiene and sleep apnea have several available treatments that could potentially reduce the risk of neurodegeneration. Sleep related risk factors are significantly and independently enriched in NDD patients with low genetic risk.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Medicine
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Publisher:	Nature Publishing Group UK
ISSN:	3005-1940
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	28 May 2025
Date of Acceptance:	31 March 2025
Last Modified:	28 May 2025 09:57
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/177298

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