Study finds link between metabolic syndrome, Parkinson's disease
Folks with metabolic syndrome have up to a 40% higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease, a new study says.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of health problems that include excess belly fat, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and abnormal cholesterol levels.
It's already known to increase people's risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
And now researchers have found an association between metabolic syndrome and Parkinson's, a degenerative nerve disease that primarily affects motor skills, according to findings published Wednesday in the journal Neurology.
"Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder among older adults after Alzheimer's disease, and metabolic syndrome affects an estimated 1 in 4 adults and is highly modifiable," researcher Weili Xu, a professor in geriatric epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said in a news release.
"Our findings suggest that metabolic syndrome may be a modifiable risk factor for Parkinson's disease," Xu said.
For the study, researchers analyzed data for more than 467,000 participants in the UK Biobank, a large-scale health research project in the United Kingdom. Nearly 2 of 5 people (38%) had metabolic syndrome.
Participants were followed for a median of 15 years, during which more than 3,200 developed Parkinson's disease. Median means half were followed longer, half for a shorter time.
People with metabolic syndrome were about 40% more likely to develop Parkinson's than those without the syndrome, results show.
Researchers also pooled their research with data gathered in eight previous studies, creating a group of nearly 25 million people with more than 98,500 cases of Parkinson's.
In that meta-analysis, the team found a 29% increased risk of Parkinson's among people with metabolic syndrome.
"We also found a higher risk of Parkinson's disease for people with both metabolic syndrome and a genetic susceptibility for Parkinson's disease," Xu said. "This suggests that maintaining metabolic health may be especially important for people who have genes that increase their risk for Parkinson's disease."
Parkinson's occurs when the body's ability to produce the neurochemical dopamine is damaged or destroyed. A lack of dopamine causes the movement problems associated with the disease.
Researchers said the health problems associated with metabolic syndrome might impair dopamine production in the body. High blood pressure and high cholesterol also might damage the tiny blood vessels in the brain, contributing to Parkinson's.
Researchers noted that their findings could not prove a direct cause-and-effect link between metabolic syndrome and Parkinson's, only an association.
"Future studies are needed to see whether working to control metabolic syndrome could help prevent Parkinson's disease," Xu concluded.
More information
The American Heart Association has more on metabolic syndrome.
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