Vascular Disease Linked to Parkinson's Disease Risk

TOPLINEWomen with prior ischemic heart disease (IHD) or cerebrovascular disease had a higher long-term risk for Parkinson's disease (PD) in a study.METHODOLOGYThis prospective cohort study included 819,575 women from the UK Million Women Study followed from median year 2001.Participants were free of PD at baseline, and prior ischemic heart disease (n=51,857), cerebrovascular disease (n=11,307), and regular aspirin (n=88,43) 6or ibuprofen (n=76,228) use were assessed using self-report and linked hospital records.The primary outcome was first hospital admission for PD or death attributed to PD.TAKEAWAYA total of 10,364 cases of PD occurred (including 130 deaths) during a mean follow-up of 18.2 years.Women with prior IHD had a 45% increased risk for PD (hazard ratio [HR], 1.45; 95% CI, 1.34-1.54); the association persisted beyond 10 years of follow-up (HR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.28-1.50).Women with prior cerebrovascular disease had a 51% increased risk for PD (HR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.32-1.73); the association persisted beyond 10 years follow-up (HR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.14-1.60).Regular aspirin use showed little association with the risk for PD after adjustment for vascular disease (adjusted HR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.00-1.13), and ibuprofen use showed no association.IN PRACTICE“Our findings provide large-scale prospective evidence for a pronounced increase in risk of PD in women with ischemic heart disease and in women with cerebrovascular disease. We also provide evidence that there is little or no association of ibuprofen or aspirin use with the risk of PD,” the authors wrote.SOURCEThe study was led by Clare Wotton, University of Oxford, England. It was published online on July 24 in Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.LIMITATIONSPD ascertainment relied on hospital admission and death records. Potential misclassification of prior vascular disease and self-reported NSAID use may have occurred.DISCLOSURESThe study was supported by the Medical Research Council and Cancer Research UK. The authors reported having no relevant conflicts of interest.This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.