People with anxiety are twice as likely to develop Parkinson's disease compared with those without, a new study from University College London (UCL) suggests. However, the findings only apply to those who develop anxiety over the age of 50 and may actually help improve Parkinson's diagnosis and early treatment.
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Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects over 8.5 million people worldwide, according to World Health Organization estimates. It is characterized by a range of symptoms, including balance problems, involuntary movements, a characteristic tremor, loss of smell, sleep disorders and cognitive impairment, which all gradually get worse over time.
"Anxiety is known to be a feature of the early stages of Parkinson's disease, but prior to our study, the prospective risk of Parkinson's in those over the age of 50 with new-onset anxiety was unknown," the study's co-lead author, Juan Bazo Avarez, said in a statement.
In their study, published in the British Journal of General Practice, the UCL team used primary care data from the U.K. between 2008 and 2018 to assess the frequency of Parkinson's symptoms among 109,435 adults who had developed anxiety after the age of 50. They then compared this data to 878,256 matched controls who did not have anxiety.
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After controlling for differences in age, sex, socioeconomic background, lifestyle factors, mental illness, head trauma, and dementia, the researchers found that those who had developed anxiety after the age of 50 were twice as likely to develop Parkinson's than those in the control group.
In those with anxiety, other symptoms like depression, low blood pressure, tremor, rigidity, balance impairment, constipation, sleep disturbances and fatigue were also associated with an increased risk of developing the condition.
"By understanding that anxiety and the mentioned features are linked to a higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease over the age of 50, we hope that we may be able to detect the condition earlier and help patients get the treatment they need," Avarez said.
Co-lead author Anette Schrag, a professor at UCL's Queen Square Institute of Neurology, added that understanding these associations could help in the early diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
"Anxiety is not as well researched as other early indicators of Parkinson's disease," she said in a statement. "Further research should explore how the early occurrence of anxiety relates to other early symptoms and to the underlying progression of Parkinson's in its early stages.
"This may lead to better treatment of the condition in its earliest stages."
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