Anxiety may double risk of Parkinson’s disease: Study

People with anxiety may be two times more at risk of developing Parkinson’s disease -- the world’s fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder and currently affects nearly 10 million people across the globe, finds a new study.

Researchers from the University College London (UCL) found that anxiety symptoms such as depression, sleep disturbance, fatigue, cognitive impairment, hypotension, tremor, rigidity, balance impairment, and constipation were risk factors for developing Parkinson’s.

“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,” Dr. Juan Bazo Avarez, from UCL’s Epidemiology and Health.

“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,” Dr Juan added, noting that the disease “is estimated to affect 14.2 million people by 2040”.

For the research, published in the British Journal of General Practice, the team assessed 109,435 patients who had developed anxiety after the age of 50 and compared them to 878,256 matched controls who did not have anxiety.

The results showed the risk of developing Parkinson’s increased two-fold in people with anxiety, compared to the control group.