Loneliness could be associated with an increased risk of Parkinson Disease

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-10-03 02:00

International

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Loneliness could be associated with an increased risk of developing Parkinson disease, according to international researchers. The team looked at data from 491,603 people followed up for 15 years and found loneliness was associated with an increased risk of Parkinson Disease, even when demographic and socioeconomic factors, as well as social isolation, genetic risk, and physical and mental health were taken into account. The study cannot show whether loneliness causes Parkinson Disease or vice versa, only that there is an association – and the researchers say there are many possible interpretations of the data, including that loneliness might come with other early common symptoms of the disease including depression, fatigue, anxiety and apathy.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Neurology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Florida State University College of Medicine, USA

Funder: This study was supported by grants R01AG068093 (Dr Terracciano) and R01AG053297 (Dr Sutin) from the NIA, NIH. The NIA, NIH had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Terracciano reported receiving grants from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.

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