People with Anxiety Face Double Risk of Developing Parkinson's: Study
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A new study by UCL researchers has found that the risk of developing Parkinson's is at least twice as high in people with anxiety compared to those without the condition.
The research, published in the British Journal of General Practice, investigated whether there was a link between people over the age of 50 who had recently developed anxiety and a later diagnosis of Parkinson’s.
Parkinson’s disease is the world’s fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder and currently affects nearly 10 million people across the globe. The condition is a progressive disorder that is caused by the death of nerve cells in the part of the brain called the substantia nigra, which controls movement. These nerve cells die or become impaired, losing the ability to produce an important chemical called dopamine, due to the build-up of a protein called alpha-synuclein.
For the study, the team utilized UK primary care data from 2008 to 2018, assessing 1,09,435 patients who developed anxiety after age 50 and comparing them to 8,78,256 matched controls without anxiety. They tracked the emergence of Parkinson’s features—such as sleep problems, depression, tremor, and balance impairment—from the point of anxiety diagnosis until one year before a Parkinson’s diagnosis. This approach helped them understand the risk of developing Parkinson’s over time and identify associated risk factors.
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