Heart attack survivors may be less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease
Research Highlights:
- People who have had a heart attack are at increased risk of stroke and vascular dementia; however, a new study found they may be less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease.
- A large, nationwide study in Denmark found that the risk of Parkinson’s disease was moderately lower among people who have had a heart attack than among the general population.
People who have had a heart attack may be slightly less likely than people in the general population to develop Parkinson’s disease later in life, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed Journal of the American Heart Association.
Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder characterized by progressive loss of physical movement, including tremors, slow or slurred speech, and/or stiffness or limited range of motion for walking and other physical activities. There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, and it is also associated with behavioral changes, depression, memory loss and fatigue. Secondary parkinsonism, which has symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease, may be caused by stroke, psychiatric or cardiovascular medications, or other illness.
The researchers examined health registries from the Danish National Health Service. They compared the risk of Parkinson’s disease and secondary parkinsonism among about 182,000 patients who had a first-time heart attack between 1995 and 2016 (average age 71 years old; 62% male) and more than 909,000 controls matched for age, sex and year of heart attack diagnosis. The results were adjusted for a variety of factors known to influence the risk of either heart attack or Parkinson’s disease.
Release date: 16 February 2022
Source: American Heart Association
