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Parkinson's, Alzheimer's & Mental Health
Parkinson's Linked to Low LDL Cholesterol that is
Good for Heart
People with Parkinson's have lower rate of heart
attack and stroke
December 20, 2006 Most of us strive to lower our
LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol that's the bad stuff for
good cardiovascular health. But, a new study by University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers has found that people with low
levels of LDL cholesterol are more likely to have Parkinson's disease
than people with high LDL levels. This disorder that affects nerve cells
in the part of the brain controlling muscle movement is most common in
senior citizens.
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Earlier studies have found intriguing correlations
between Parkinson's disease, heart attacks, stroke and smoking.
"People with Parkinson's disease have a lower
occurrence of heart attack and stroke than people who do not have the
disease," said Dr. Xuemei Huang, medical director of the Movement
Disorder Clinic at UNC Hospitals and an assistant professor of neurology
in the UNC School of Medicine.
"Parkinson's patients are also more likely to carry
the gene APOE-2, which is linked with lower LDL cholesterol."
And for more than a decade, researchers have known
that smoking, which increases a person's risk for cardiovascular
disease, is also associated with a decreased risk of Parkinson's
disease.
These findings led Huang to examine whether higher
LDL cholesterol might be associated with a decreased occurrence for
Parkinson's disease, and vice versa.
"If my hypothesis was correct," she said, "lower
LDL-C, something that is linked to healthy hearts, would be associated
with a higher occurrence of Parkinson's."
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About Parkinson's |
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Parkinson's disease is a disorder that affects
nerve cells in the part of the brain controlling muscle movement.
People with Parkinson's disease often experience
trembling, muscle rigidity, difficulty walking, problems with balance
and slowed movements. These symptoms usually develop after age 60,
although some people affected by Parkinson's disease are younger than
age 50.
Parkinson's disease is progressive, meaning the
signs and symptoms become worse over time. But although Parkinson's
disease may eventually be disabling, the disease often progresses
gradually, and most people have many years of productive living after a
diagnosis.
Furthermore, unlike other serious neurological
diseases, Parkinson's disease is treatable. One treatment approach is
medications. Another involves an implanted device that stimulates the
brain. Other approaches involve surgery.
>>
More information from Mayo Clinic, click here.
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The results of Huang's study, published online Dec.
18 by the journal Movement Disorders, confirmed her hypothesis. "We
found that lower LDL concentrations were indeed associated with a higher
occurrence of Parkinson's disease," Huang said.
Participants with lower LDL levels (less than 114
milligrams per deciliter) had a 3.5-fold higher occurrence of
Parkinson's than the participants with higher LDL levels (more than 138
milligrams per deciliter).
Huang cautioned that people should not change their
eating habits, nor their use of statins and other cholesterol-lowering
drugs, because of the results. The study was based on relatively small
numbers of cases and controls, and the results are too preliminary, she
said. Further large prospective studies are needed, Huang added.
"Parkinson's is a disease full of paradoxes," Huang
said. "We've known for years that smoking reduces the risk of developing
Parkinson's. More than 40 studies have documented that fact. But we
don't advise people to smoke because of the other more serious health
risks," she said.
Huang and her colleagues recruited 124 Parkinson's
patients who were treated at the UNC Movement Disorder Clinic between
July 2002 and November 2004 to take part in the study. Another 112
people, all spouses of patients treated in the clinic, were recruited as
the control group. Fasting cholesterol profiles were obtained from each
participant.
The researchers also recorded information on each
participant's gender, age, smoking habits and use of
cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Huang notes that the study also found participants
with Parkinson's were much less likely to take cholesterol-lowering
drugs than participants in the control group. This, combined with the
findings about LDL cholesterol, suggests two questions for additional
study, Huang said.
"One is whether lower cholesterol predates the
onset of Parkinson's. Number two, what is the role of statins in that?
In other words, does taking cholesterol-lowering drugs somehow protect
against Parkinson's? We need to address these questions," she said.
Editor's Notes:
Research funding was provided by the National
Institute on Aging, the Intramural Research Program of the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the General Clinical
Research Center at UNC Hospitals.
Huang's co-authors include Dr. Richard B. Mailman,
Jennifer L. Woodard, Peter C. Chen, and Drs. Dong Xiang, Richard W.
Murrow and Yi-Zhe Wang, all of the UNC School of Medicine. Additional
co-authors include Dr. Honglei Chen of the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences and Drs. William C. Miller and Charles
Poole, both from the department of epidemiology in the UNC School of
Public Health.
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