This May Almost Double Your Parkinson's Risk, Study Shows

A study published in Movement Disorders suggests being neurotic can elevate one's risk of developing Parkinson's disease, reports Yahoo! Lifestyle . The researchers analyzed data compiled by the U.K. Biobank on nearly 500,000 people aged 40 to 69 from the mid-to-late-'90s and monitored for 12 years. Those who scored in the top quartile of neuroticism had more than an 80 percent higher risk of Parkinson's, compared to lower-scoring subjects. "Anxiety and depression are comorbid with Parkinson's disease," explained Florida State University College of Medicine Professor Antonio Terracciano. "Many people with Parkinson's tend to be anxious or tend to get depressed. Part of that could be due to the disease and how it alters the brain and can have an influence on emotions. Part could be a psychological reaction of having a diagnosis of the disease." There is an implication that younger people with depression are at higher risk of Parkinson's later, although Terracciano notes that the study's observations "suggest that some emotional vulnerability is present early in life, years before the development of Parkinson's disease."