Sleep disturbances as risk factors for neurodegeneration later in life
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.
Authors
- Kristin Levine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5702-0980)
- Valentina Escott‐Price (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1784-5483)
- Hampton L. Leonard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2390-8110)
- Mike A. Nalls (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0319-4325)
- Sara Bandrés‐Ciga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0056-1361)
- Mathew J. Koretsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4341-3991)
- Emily Simmonds (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5691-597X)
- Artur Francisco Schumacher Schuh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8722-0908)
- Faraz Faghri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5744-8728)
- Cornelis Blauwendraat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9358-8111)
- Hirotaka Iwaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8982-7885)
- Andrew B. Singleton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5606-700X)
- Nicole Kuznetsov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9847-0282)
- Jun Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1632-0629)
- Lietsel Jones
- Caroline Warly Solsberg
Institutions
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (BR)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DE)
- Data Tecnica International (United States) (US)
- Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (BR)
- UK Dementia Research Institute (GB)
- Cardiff University (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Dementia
- Published
- 2025-05-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44400-025-00008-0
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Sleep and related disorders
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 12.71
Funders
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Public Health Wales
- Alzheimer's Society
- Swansea University
- Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
- National Institutes of Health
- Medical Research Council
- National Institute on Aging