Mar 12, 2022 09:00:00

'People who have had a heart attack have a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease,' the study found.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that shows movement disorders such as hand tremor and slow movement, and as the symptoms progress, it becomes difficult to walk on its own. A study conducted by a research team at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark found a link to Parkinson's disease: 'People who have had a heart attack have a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease.'

Risk of Parkinson Disease and Secondary Parkinsonism in Myocardial Infarction Survivors | Journal of the American Heart Association
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/JAHA.121.022768

Heart attack survivors may be less likely to develop Parkinson's disease Journal of the American Heart Association Report | American Heart Association
https://newsroom.heart.org/news/heart-attack-survivors-may-be-less-likely-to-develop-parkinsons-disease

Study of Over 1 Million People Reveals Heart Attacks Can Reduce Parkinson's Risk
https://www.sciencealert.com/having-a-heart-attack-somehow-lowers-the-risk-of-developing-parkinson-s

Parkinson's disease, which causes problems with daily movements and walking, is also associated with behavioral changes, depression, and memory impairment, and was designated by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare as an intractable disease at the time of writing the article. Previous studies have shown that people who have had a heart attack have an increased risk of ischemic stroke and vascular dementia, but the association between the history of heart attack and the risk of Parkinson's disease has been discussed. He said he didn't understand it well.

So, from the records of the Danish National Health Service, the research team can compare 909,000 patients who had their first heart attack between 1995 and 2016 with about 182,000 patients in terms of age, gender, etc. We compared people as controls and analyzed the risk of Parkinsonism (secondary Parkinsonism), which refers to Parkinson's disease and similar symptoms.

A follow-up study of up to 21 years after a heart attack found that people who had a heart attack had a 20% lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease than those who did not. We also found that the risk of people with a heart attack was 28% lower in secondary parkinsonism.

'The risk of Parkinson's disease appears to be reduced in patients with heart attack compared to the general population,' said Dr. Jens Sundbøll , lead author of the paper. 'Previously after heart attack, ischemic stroke and vascularity. The discovery that the risk of Parkinson's disease was low was a bit surprising, as the risk of neurovascular complications such as dementia was found to be significantly increased. '

This study is the first to look at the risk of Parkinson's disease in survivors of a heart attack, and explaining why the risk is lower in those who have had a heart attack is a topic for future research. However, in heart attack and Parkinson's disease, each onset factor is intricately intertwined, and one of them may lead to a reduction in the risk of Parkinson's disease.

Common factors for heart attack and Parkinson's disease include 'being an elderly man,' and common factors that reduce risk include 'drinking a lot of coffee' and 'exercising well.' On the other hand, factors such as 'smoking,' 'high cholesterol,' 'hypertension,' and 'type 2 diabetes,' which increase the risk of heart attack, are known to reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease.

Therefore, factors such as smoking habits and high cholesterol in patients with heart attack may be associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease. Although Sundbøll acknowledged that smoking does reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease, 'smoking increases the risk of the most common illnesses such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and lung disease, so it is absolutely healthy. It ’s not good. ”

'Patients who have had a heart attack appear to have a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease compared to the general population, so doctors treating patients with ischemic stroke, vascular dementia, and new hearts,' said Sundbøll. The results of this study show that the focus should be on cardiac rehabilitation to prevent cardiovascular diseases such as attacks and heart failure. '