A recent study found that people who have anxiety have two times more risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. This is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the nervous system. It affects the nervous system and different parts of the body that are controlled by nerves. The symptoms of the condition start to appear slowly and one of the early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease is tremors in just one hand which is barely visible.
Mayo Clinic says that tremors are common, but the disorder also may cause stiffness or slowing of movement. During the early stages of the condition, you might see little or no expression on your face and your arms may not swing when you walk. Along with this, your speech may also become soft or slurred. However, these symptoms tend to progress over time.
For the 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.
Dr Juan Bazo Avarez, from UCL’s Epidemiology and Health said, “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.”
“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”.
The study was published in the British Journal of General Practice. The researchers 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 study results revealed that the risk of an individual developing Parkinson’s disease increased by two-fold in people who had anxiety when compared to the control group.
Another study that was conducted recently by scientists from University College London (UCL) and University Medical Centre Goettingen revealed that a straightforward blood test can help predict Parkinson’s disease up to seven years before symptoms appear. Scientists have created the blood test that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The study found that when a branch of AI called machine learning, analysed a panel of eight blood-based biomarkers whose concentrations are altered in patients with Parkinson’s, it could provide a diagnosis with 100% accuracy. The scientists then experimented to see whether the test could predict the likelihood that a person would go on to develop Parkinson’s.
When the machine learning tool analysed the blood of these patients it identified that 79% of the iRBD patients had the same profile as someone with Parkinson’s. The patients were then followed up over ten years and the AI predictions have so far matched the clinical conversion rate – with the team correctly predicting 16 patients as going on to develop Parkinson’s and being able to do this up to seven years before the onset of any symptoms.
(With inputs from agencies)