Anxiety doubles risk of developing Parkinson's, study finds

People who suffer from anxiety are twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, according to a study.

Researchers at University College London (UCL) analysed primary care data from 109,435 patients who developed anxiety after the age of 50 and compared them to 878,256 patients who did not have anxiety between 2008 and 2018.

They then tracked the presence of Parkinson’s symptoms such as sleep problems and balance impairment from the point of their anxiety diagnosis up until one year before the date of a Parkinson’s diagnosis.

The UCL team found that the risk of developing Parkinson’s increased two-fold in people with anxiety, compared to the control group.

Symptoms such as depression, sleep disturbance, fatigue and cognitive impairment were also found to be risk factors for developing Parkinson’s in people with anxiety.

Dr Juan Bazo Alvarez, from UCL’s Department of 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.”

Parkinson’s disease is the world’s fastest growing neurodegenerative disorder and currently affects nearly 10 million people across the globe.

Professor Anette Schrag, from the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, said: “Anxiety is not as well researched as other early indicators of Parkinson’s disease. 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.”

Last week, scientists at UCL announced the creation of a new blood test that uses artificial intelligence to predict Parkinson's up to seven years before the onset of symptoms.

The test uses AI to predict the disease, which is caused by the death of nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls movement.

Currently, people with Parkinson’s are treated with dopamine replacement therapy after they have already developed symptoms, such as tremor, slowness of movement and gait, and memory problems.