The risk of developing Parkinson’s disease is twice as high in older adults with anxiety, according to a study.

This article was originally published in English

People with anxiety have doubles the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease compared to older people who don’t suffer from anxiety, according to a new large-scale UK study.

Researchers from University College London (UCL) used data from nearly 988,000 patients aged 50 and over from 2008 to 2018 to identify How anxiety affects your risk of Parkinson’s disease taking into account other known factors such as age, gender, social isolation, serious mental illness, dementia, head injury and lifestyle.

They found that patients newly diagnosed with anxiety like older people They were twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, suggesting it may be an early sign of the neurodegenerative disease.

Brits focus on motor skills

This is important because doctors do not always take patients’ anxiety history into account when assessing their Parkinson’s disease. For example, the diagnostic criteria for Parkinson’s in the United Kingdom are: focus on movement problems.

“Unfortunately, it’s not a fixed line, but that’s why this study is really good, because it does give more reasons to be concerned.” be an early question“Amelia Hersey, director of research for Parkinson’s Disease Europe, told Euronews Health.

Among the anxiety patients in the study, several symptoms were also associated with an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease. These include depression, sleep problems, fatigue, cognitive impairmentlow blood pressure, constipation and movement problems such as tremors, stiffness and balance problems, but not shoulder pain, dizziness, erectile or urinary dysfunction.

An average of 4.9 years have passed since then. the doctor noticed the concern for the first time patient until he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

The findings, published in the British Journal of General Practice, may help doctors. determine which patients are at greatest risk Parkinson’s disease, potentially speeding up diagnosis and improving early treatment.

Hersey said early diagnosis could give researchers clues. about the root of the problembecause Parkinson’s disease is incurable.

Parkinson’s disease affects 11.8 million people worldwide.

Parkinson’s one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases, which affects approximately 11.8 million people worldwide. The diagnosis is more common in older adults, men, and people of higher socioeconomic status, and the prevalence has increased over the past 25 years.

Anxiety is a common symptom of Parkinson’s disease and is the result of changes in brain chemistry rather than a simple reaction to a diagnosis, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation. Other studies have shown that anxiety may limit patients’ quality of life Parkinson’s disease and increases the burden on caregivers.

However, UCL researchers said not enough is known about how new-onset anxiety occurs and the severity of anxiety in people. may affect the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease as they get older.

People with anxiety shouldn’t worry about developing Parkinson’s disease, Hersey said. Rather, the results suggest that anxiety corresponds to “the entire set of symptoms” resulting from illness.

“Every bit of information about the lived experiences of people with Parkinson’s disease or people who may be at high risk of Parkinson’s disease, It is extremely important for us to take a step towards understanding underlying mechanisms,” Hersey said.