Risk of Late-Onset Epilepsy Tied to Sleep Apnea, Low Oxygen During Sleep: Study

People whose oxygen fell below 80 percent during sleep were three times more likely to develop late-onset epilepsy than those whose did not.

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People with sleep apnea who have low oxygen levels while sleeping are at an increased risk of developing epilepsy after age 60, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The findings of the study, published in the journal Sleep, could help researchers better understand the relationship between late-onset epilepsy and sleep disorders while also opening the door for potential treatment options.

“There’s increasing evidence that late-onset epilepsy may be indicative of underlying vascular disease, or neurodegenerative disease, even potentially as a preclinical marker of neurodegenerative disease,” Dr. Rebecca Gottesman, an author of the study, said in a news release. “Compared to other age groups, older adults have the highest incidence of new cases of epilepsy—up to half of which have no clear cause.”

Low Oxygen Levels While Sleeping Triples Risk

Epilepsy is a neurological condition that can cause randomly recurring seizures. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, epilepsy is the fourth most common condition affecting the brain, affecting roughly 3 million Americans and 50 million people worldwide. The Epilepsy Foundation also reports that 10 percent of people will have seizures at least once. Most people are diagnosed with epilepsy if they have two unprovoked seizures or one unprovoked seizure but are at a high risk of more.