EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 PM ET, October 02, 2013
Depression May Increase Your Risk of Parkinson鈥檚 Disease
MINNEAPOLIS -
People who are depressed may have triple the risk of developing , according to a study published in the October 2, 2013, online issue of , the medical journal of the . 鈥淒epression is linked in other studies to illnesses such as cancer and stroke,鈥 said study author Albert C. Yang, MD, PhD, with Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. 鈥淥ur study suggests that depression may also be an independent risk factor for Parkinson鈥檚 disease.鈥 Researchers analyzed the medical records of 4,634 people with depression and 18,544 free of depression over 10 years. They also looked at the risk of Parkinson鈥檚 disease after excluding people who were diagnosed with Parkinson鈥檚 disease within two or five years following their depression diagnosis. During the 10-year follow-up period, 66 people with depression, or 1.42 percent, and 97 without depression, or 0.52 percent, were diagnosed with Parkinson鈥檚 disease. People with depression were 3.24 times more likely to develop Parkinson鈥檚 disease than those without depression. 鈥淢any questions remain, including whether depression is an early symptom of Parkinson鈥檚 disease rather than an independent risk factor for the disease,鈥 Yang said. 鈥淥ur study also found that depression and older age and having difficult-to-treat depression were significant risk factors as well.鈥 The study was supported by Taipei Veterans General Hospital and Taiwan National Science Council. To learn more about Parkinson鈥檚 disease, please visit .