People over 50 with anxiety may be up to twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease compared to their peers without anxiety, according to a new study. Published in the British Journal of General Practice, the research analyzed primary care data from the United Kingdom, comparing 109,435 individuals aged 50 and older diagnosed with anxiety between 2008 and 2018 to a control group of 987,691 people without anxiety.
The study found that 331 patients with anxiety developed Parkinson’s disease over the decade, with the disease manifesting on average 4.9 years after their first anxiety diagnosis. Even after adjusting for age, lifestyle, mental illness, and other factors, anxiety sufferers were still twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s. The research also indicated that those developing the disease were more likely to be male and from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.
Additional factors associated with Parkinson’s included depression, sleep disturbances, fatigue, cognitive impairment, low blood pressure, tremor, rigidity, balance issues, and constipation. Conversely, dizziness, shoulder pain, and urinary and erectile problems were linked to a lower likelihood of developing the disease.
Professor Anette Schrag, co-leader of the study and a professor of clinical neurosciences at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, emphasized the need for further research on anxiety as an early indicator of Parkinson’s. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke notes that Parkinson’s is the second-most common neurodegenerative disorder in the U.S., affecting up to 1 million Americans, with most diagnoses occurring in those aged 60 and older.
