If you have been detected with Type-2 diabetes at an early age then you are more at risk of developing Parkinson's disease later in life, a new study has revealed.
The findings stated that those with Type-2 diabetes had a 31 per cent increased risk of Parkinson's disease than those without diabetes. The risk was higher for younger people aged between 25 and 44. The study also revealed that those with complications from diabetes had a 49 per cent greater risk of being diagnosed with Parkinson's.
The study was conducted by a team from University College London, the University of Oxford and Queen Mary University of London.
“We can now say more definitely that there is a link between diabetes and Parkinson’s but we need to do more research to understand the relationship — whether it’s due to genetics, the effect of diabetes on the brain or both,” the study’s lead author, Professor Tom Warner of UCL, said. “While the association is substantial, it’s still clear that most people with type 2 diabetes will not go on to develop Parkinson’s.”
The result of the study was published in the journal Neurology.
The study was conducted using hospital records to follow 2,017,115 people with type 2 diabetes between 1999 and 2011, and it compared them with 6,173,208 people without the disease.
Among those with diabetes, 14,252 had a diagnosis or were later diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, compared with 20,878 in the comparison group.
These findings could help improve treatments for both Type-2 diabetes and Parkinson's.
“We’ve added to evidence that diabetes and Parkinson’s are linked, which in turn raises the possibility that they may respond to common therapies,” Dr Alastair Noyce, a co-author of the most recent study, said. “We hope that furthering our understanding of the relationship between the two diseases could help improve treatments for both conditions.”
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