People with diabetes may have a slightly increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, suggests a U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) study involving nearly 289,000 older U.S. adults. Of 21,600 participants with diabetes, 172 (0.8%) were diagnosed with Parkinson’s over a 15-year follow-up period, as compared with 1,393 cases (0.5%) among the 267,000 men and women who were diabetes-free at the study’s start. When the researchers accounted for other factors — like age, weight and smoking habits — diabetes itself was linked to a 41% increase in the risk of future Parkinson’s.
Diabetes May Raise Risks of Parkinson’s Disease
U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences finds that people with diabetes may have a slightly increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
Qun Xu, Yikyung Park, Xuemei Huang, Albert Hollenbeck, Aaron Blair, Arthur Schatzkin, Honglei Chen. “Diabetes and Risk of Parkinson’s Disease.” Diabetes Care April 2011 34:910-915.
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