Should We Treat Midlife Vascular Risk Factors to Prevent Parkinson’s Disease?

Clinical Takeaway:

: There is still value in addressing vascular risk factors even if they don’t prevent or delay Parkinson’s disease or PD dementia.

Context

Many midlife vascular risk factors — hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, and diabetes — are closely associated with dementia risk and are all modifiable. Whether midlife vascular risk factors affect risk for Parkinson’s disease (PD) or PD dementia is unclear. This analysis of prospective data drawn from the longitudinal community-based Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study provides clinicians with information to begin to understand if a relationship exists.

Key Results

The analysis includes almost 14,000 individuals with up to 30 years of follow-up.
Approximately one quarter of individuals were Black, and half were women.
During follow-up, 179 participants developed PD, 94 developed PD dementia, and 1791 developed dementia w…

Reviewing Author

Michael S. Okun, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardParkinson’s Foundation; Tourette Association of America

Speaker’s BureauMedscape/WebMD CME, Movement Disorders Society CME, American Academy of Neurology CME

RoyaltiesBooks4Patients; Demos; Cambridge; Taylor and Francis; Robert Rose; Public Affairs

Grant/Research SupportNational Institutes of Health; Parkinson’s Foundation; Tourette Association of America; University of Florida Foundation

Editorial BoardsTremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements; JAMA Neurology

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesParkinson’s Foundation (Medical Advisor)