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Head injuries may hike risk of Parkinson's disease By
Jacqueline Stenson Reuters Health, May 19, 2003 NEW YORK - People who sustain substantial head injuries may face an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease years later, new study findings suggest. Overall, those who had experienced head trauma were about four times more likely to develop the neurological disease than those who never had such injuries, results showed. But only the more severe forms of head trauma appeared to raise the odds of developing Parkinson's. People with mild head injuries who did not lose consciousness or experience memory loss lasting at least 30 minutes faced no increased risk, according to findings published in the journal Neurology. However, those who had experienced head trauma involving a loss of consciousness, skull fracture, prolonged memory loss or more severe complications were 11 times more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than those who had never sustained head trauma. "I was surprised by the strength of the association," said study author Dr. James H. Bower, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. An average person's lifetime risk of developing Parkinson's is 1.7 percent, so those with the more severe head trauma may face almost a 20 percent risk, Bower explained. Parkinson's is a progressive brain disease characterized by tremors, muscle stiffness, a shuffling walk and difficulty with balance and coordination. Previous studies have reached conflicting conclusions about whether head trauma is associated with Parkinson's. One of the reasons researchers have suspected a link is that boxers are known to be at risk for a condition called dementia pugilistica that has some Parkinson's-like symptoms. A strength of the new study is that it is the first to rely on medical records of head trauma rather than on patient recall of such events, the researchers noted. The study involved 196 patients who developed Parkinson's disease from 1976 to 1995. Patients' medical records were compared with those of another 196 people who did not have the disease. A total of 16 head traumas of any kind were identified, 13 (6.6 percent) among those who later developed Parkinson's disease and three (1.5 percent) among those who did not. Among those who developed Parkinson's, the lag time between head trauma and the onset of the disease ranged from three to 55 years, according to the report. Doctors don't know exactly what causes Parkinson's disease though they have identified genetic underpinnings and suspect pesticides and other factors may play a role. "We are by no means saying we have found the cause of Parkinson's disease," Bower said. "This is potentially one cause of this disease. There are probably many different causes." In the report, the researchers raise a few theories about how head trauma might promote Parkinson's disease. One possibility, according to Bower's team, is that the blood-brain barrier becomes disrupted during head trauma, allowing damaging proteins or other substances in blood to enter the brain. Another potential explanation is that head trauma causes the brain to make destructive proteins. And a third possibility, the researchers suggest, is that head trauma kills brain cells immediately, and over time further brain cell loss from natural aging fuels the disease. While there's no proven way to prevent Parkinson's disease, Bower said, everyone should take precautions to avoid head injuries. "People in contact sports really need to wear protective head gear," he advised. The same goes for bikers, skiers, skateboarders and others who might be at risk, he added. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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