There’s a link between loneliness and Parkinson’s? Or rather, is loneliness a risk factor for Parkinson’s? Reading the results of an American study, the answer is yes. But there’s more. Being alone increases the chances of developing this neurodegenerative disease, even without other risk factors.
Research is important. Experts at the Florida State University College of Medicine in Tallahassee in the United States analyzed data from almost half a million people. You can read the results in the scientific journal Jama Neurology.
Loneliness is a risk factor for many diseases
Various scientific evidence increasingly demonstrates that the impact of loneliness on health is particularly significant. Only in the month of May did the United States health authoritiesthey had branded it an epidemic. Others Education they talk about the relationship with heart health. The American Society of Psychologists had instead recalled how the loneliness kills more than obesity. Being and feeling alone is also among the risk factors for another neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s.
Almost half a million people were observed to understand if there is a link between loneliness and Parkinson’s
The one from Florida State University is the first ever research to focus on the link between loneliness and Parkinson’s disease. The researchers drew on data from the Biobanca britannica. This is a database with the health information of hundreds of thousands of UK citizens who are tracked for years.
Link between loneliness and Parkinson’s: the risk increases by almost 40 percentage points
Fifteen years after the start of the study, out of 491,603 participants, 2,822 developed Parkinson’s. Cross-referencing the data, the experts discovered that those who admitted feeling lonely had a 37 percent higher risk of developing the disease.
What are the other risk factors for Parkinson’s?
This value remains the same even if other Parkinson’s risk factors are taken into account, such as:
age, cigarette smoking, sedentary lifestyle, overweight or obesity, diabetes, an episode of stroke, cardiovascular disease, depression, anxiety, family history, socio-economic situation.
The average age of onset of the disease is around 60 years. In 5% of cases the patients are decidedly younger, even in their twenties. Before this age it is extremely rare. Over the age of 60 it affects 1-2% of the population, while the percentage rises to 3-5% when the age is over 85.