Depression May Triple Risk of Parkinson’s Disease

New research suggests that depression may be an independent risk factor for Parkinson’s disease. Albert C. Yang, MD, PhD, of Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, and colleagues analyzed the medical records of 4,634 people who had a history of depression and 18,544 people with no history of depression. During the 10-year follow-up period, 66 patients with depression (1.42%) and 97 control patients (0.52%) were diagnosed with Parkinson’s. After adjusting for age and sex, results showed that patients with depression were 3.24-times more likely to develop the neurodegenerative disease than people who did not suffer from depression. “Depression is linked in other studies to illnesses such as cancer and stroke. Our study suggests that depression may also be an independent risk factor for Parkinson’s disease,” said Dr Yang. “Many questions remain, including whether depression is an early symptom of Parkinson’s disease rather than an independent risk factor for the disease.”