New research examining whether there is a link between experiencing anxiety after age 50 and a later diagnosis of Parkinson’s has found that the risk of developing the neurodegenerative disease may double in older adults who suffer from anxiety.
The new study was carried out by a team led by Professor Anette Schrag from the Institute of Neurology at London’s Global University (UCL) and was based on primary care data in the UK between 2008 and 2018. The researchers assessed 109,435 patients who developed anxiety after the age of 50 and compared them with 878,256 matched controls who did not have anxiety.
They tracked the presence of characteristic Parkinson’s symptoms, such as sleep problems, depression, tremor and balance impairment, from the time of anxiety diagnosis until one year before the date of a Parkinson’s diagnosis, to understand the risk of developing the disease in each group over time and what their risk factors might be.
The team adjusted the results for age, sex, social deprivation, lifestyle, severe mental illness, head trauma and dementia, which are factors that could influence the likelihood of developing the condition in people with anxiety.
As a result, they found that the risk of developing Parkinson’s was doubled in people with anxiety compared to the control group. They also confirmed that symptoms such as depression, sleep disturbances, fatigue, cognitive impairment, hypotension, tremor, rigidity, impaired balance, and constipation were risk factors for developing Parkinson’s in people with anxiety.
Identify factors that help in the early detection of Parkinson’s
Parkinson’s disease is the fastest growing neurodegenerative disorder in the world, currently affecting nearly 10 million people worldwide. It is caused by the death of nerve cells in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra, which is responsible for controlling movement. These nerve cells die or deteriorate, losing the ability to produce an important chemical called dopamine, due to the buildup of a protein called alpha-synuclein.
“Anxiety is known to be a feature of early Parkinson’s, but before our study, the prospective risk of Parkinson’s in people over 50 with new-onset anxiety was unknown,” said Dr Juan Bazo Alvarez (UCL Epidemiology and Health), co-senior author of the paper. “By understanding that anxiety and the above-mentioned features are linked to an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s after age 50, we hope to be able to detect the disease earlier and help patients receive the treatment they need.”
Symptoms such as depression, sleep disturbances, fatigue, cognitive impairment, hypotension, tremor, rigidity, impaired balance, and constipation were risk factors for developing Parkinson’s in people with anxiety.
Professor Anette Schrag said: “Anxiety is not as well researched as other early indicators of Parkinson’s disease. More research is needed to explore how early onset anxiety relates to other early symptoms and the underlying progression of Parkinson’s in its early stages,” as “this could lead to better treatment of the condition in its earliest stages.”
The results of the study have been published in the British Journal of General Practice and its authors suggest that future research should explore why people over 50 with new-onset anxiety are at increased risk of Parkinson’s and whether their outcomes are affected by the severity of their anxiety.
