People with anxiety face double risk of Parkinson’s disease: study

A recent study found that anxiety can double the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease in adults over the age of 50.

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the lives of almost 10 million people around the world. It is a progressive disorder caused by the death or damage of nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls movement.

In the latest testresearchers examined whether there was a link between new-onset anxiety in people over 50 and the eventual diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. They analyzed a cohort of 109,435 patients who developed anxiety after the age of 50, comparing them with 878,256 matched controls who did not develop anxiety.

The team also monitored participants for common features of Parkinson’s disease, such as sleep problems, depression, tremors and balance problems, from the time they were diagnosed with anxiety until a year before their Parkinson’s diagnosis. This helped them understand the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease in each group and identify the risk factor.

The results showed that the risk of Parkinson’s disease was doubled in the anxiety group, after taking into account factors such as age, gender, social deprivation, lifestyle, severe mental illness, head injury and dementia. For people with anxiety, factors such as depression, low blood pressure, tremor, stiffness, balance problems, constipation, sleep disturbances, fatigue and cognitive problems have been linked to an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

“Anxiety is known to be a feature of the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, but prior to our study, the potential risk of Parkinson’s disease in people over the age of 50 with new-onset anxiety was not known,” co-author Dr. Juan Bazo Avarez said in Press Release.

“By understanding that anxiety and the characteristics mentioned are associated with a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease after the age of 50, we hope that we will be able to detect the disease earlier and facilitate patients get the treatment they need,” Avarez said.

“Anxiety is not as well-studied as other early indicators of Parkinson’s disease. Further research should examine how the early onset of anxiety is associated with other early symptoms and the underlying progression of Parkinson’s disease in the early stages. This could lead to better treatment for Parkinson’s disease. state at the earliest stage,” added co-author Professor Anette Schrag.