Sleep apnea and late-midlife oxygen desaturation to less than 80 percent during sleep are associated with subsequent development of late-onset epilepsy (LOE), according to a study recently published in SLEEP.

Christopher M. Carosella, M.D., from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues identified cases of LOE in Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study cohort participants. Polysomnographic data from 1,309 ARIC participants who also participated in the Sleep Heart Health Study from 1995 to 1998 were used, and the subsequent risk for LOE was assessed using a survival analysis. In addition, 2,672 ARIC participants were assessed for the association between self-reported obstructive sleep apnea in 2011 to 2013 and the risk for subsequent LOE.

The researchers found an association for late-midlife oxygen desaturation to less than 80 percent during sleep with subsequent development of LOE (adjusted subhazard ratio, 3.28), but no association was seen for the apnea-hypopnea index. An association was observed for participant report of diagnosis of sleep apnea in 2011 to 2013 with subsequent LOE (adjusted subhazard ratio, 2.59).

“As sleep disorders are well characterized and highly prevalent disease processes with available diagnostic testing and straightforward treatment modalities, these findings support future research on this set of potentially modifiable risk factors for the prevention of LOE,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical and publishing industries.

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