A recent British study published on June 25 in the British Journal of General Practice revealed that anxiety after the age of 50 increases the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s is the world’s fastest growing neurodegenerative disorder, currently affecting approximately 10 million people worldwide.
Parkinson’s disease is often associated with movement problems, but may also be accompanied by other non-movement problems such as depression, anxiety, and loss of smell.
The study team, researchers at the Royal College of General Practitioners, used primary care data in the United Kingdom between 2008 and 2018. In their study, they examined the health data of 109,435 people who developed anxiety after the age of 50, and compared the information with a reference group of 878,526 people who did not suffer from anxiety.
Data on Parkinson’s symptoms such as sleep problems, depression, tremor and poor balance were assessed from the time of anxiety diagnosis until one year before Parkinson’s diagnosis, to help them understand each group’s risk of developing Parkinson’s over time and their specific risk factors.
According to the Eurek Alert website, researchers reported that people who were diagnosed with anxiety after the age of 50 were twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease as those who did not suffer from anxiety.
“Anxiety is known to be a feature of early-stage Parkinson’s disease, but before our study the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease in those over 50 with new-onset anxiety was unknown,” lead study author Juan Pazo Alvarez, a researcher in the Department of Epidemiology and Health at University College London, said in a press release to WebMD.
Researchers have identified specific symptoms that have been linked to the later development of Parkinson’s disease in people with anxiety, including depression, sleep disturbance, fatigue, and cognitive impairment, among others.
People who do not suffer from anxiety also develop Parkinson’s disease, but at a later age than those who suffer from anxiety.
The researchers recommend that future research explore why people with anxiety onset over the age of 50 are more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease and whether this is influenced by the severity of anxiety.
Early warning signs
Although Parkinson’s disease cannot be definitively diagnosed until some motor symptoms appear, some early warning signs are now well understood as being associated with Parkinson’s disease.
According to the Johns Hopkins website, mutations associated with an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease can be detected early after birth, and some patients (about 10%) may be found to have a known genetic mutation associated with Parkinson’s disease. This gene can be tested at any time in life. This does not mean a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, but rather just a determination of the likelihood of developing it.
There are also early warning signs of Parkinson’s disease, such as the following:
- Loss of sense of smell:
If you have anosmia without any other medical condition, you have at least a 50 percent chance of developing Parkinson’s disease in the next five to 10 years. A protein that clumps in the part of the brain that regulates dopamine and leads to Parkinson’s disease also clumps in the olfactory bulb, the part of the brain responsible for smell. This happens before the protein buildup causes the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
- Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder:
In a pattern similar to anosmia, people with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder have at least a 50% chance of eventually developing Parkinson’s disease.
- Constipation:
It is not easy to determine the rate at which people with chronic, unexplained constipation develop Parkinson’s disease, but if someone has persistent, unexplained constipation, it should at least be noted, as it can be considered an early symptom.