Diabetes Care 30:842-847, 2007 DOI: 10.2337/dc06-2011 © 2007 by the American Diabetes Association
Type 2 Diabetes and the Risk of Parkinson's Disease
1 Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Diseases Prevention, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland Address correspondence and reprint requests to Gang Hu, MD, PhD, Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Diseases Prevention, National Public Health Institute, Mannerheimintie 166, FIN-00300 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: hu.gang{at}ktl.fi
OBJECTIVETo evaluate whether type 2 diabetes at baseline is a risk factor for Parkinson's disease. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWe prospectively followed 51,552 Finnish men and women 2574 years of age without a history of Parkinson's disease at baseline. History of diabetes and other study parameters were determined at baseline using standardized measurements. Ascertainment of the Parkinson's disease status was based on the nationwide Social Insurance Institution's drug register data. Hazard ratios of incident Parkinson's disease associated with the history of type 2 diabetes were estimated. RESULTSDuring a mean follow-up period of 18.0 years, 324 men and 309 women developed incident Parkinson's disease. Age- and study yearadjusted hazard ratios of incident Parkinson's disease among subjects with type 2 diabetes, compared with those without it, were 1.80 (95% CI 1.033.15) in men, 1.93 (1.053.53) in women, and 1.85 (1.232.80) in men and women combined (adjusted also for sex). Further adjustment for BMI, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, education, leisure-time physical activity, smoking, alcohol drinking, and coffee and tea consumption affected the results only slightly. The multivariate adjusted association between type 2 diabetes and the risk of Parkinson's disease was also confirmed in stratified subgroup analysis. CONCLUSIONSThese data suggest that type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease. Surveillance bias might account for higher rates in diabetes. The mechanism behind this association between diabetes and Parkinson's disease is not known.
Type 2 diabetes is one of the fastest growing public health problems worldwide (1), and it is associated with multiple complications. Epidemiological studies have indicated that patients with type 2 diabetes present an excess risk of coronary heart disease compared with individuals without diabetes (2,3). Evidence from prospective epidemiological studies has identified type 2 diabetes as an independent risk factor for multiple hyperglycemia-induced complications virtually in all organs, including neurodegenerative diseases such as diabetic neuropathy (4), stroke (58), dementia (911), and Alzheimer's disease (911). However, little is known about the association between diabetes and the risk of Parkinson's disease. Only a few cross-sectional studies and two case-control studies have examined the prevalence of diabetes among patients with Parkinson's disease (1215), and no prospective epidemiological studies have thus far addressed this association. Recently, animal and in vitro studies have shown that insulin dysregulation and changes in insulin action have been concerned in the pathophysiology and clinical symptoms of Parkinson's disease (16). The aim of this study was to examine whether type 2 diabetes at baseline is a risk factor for Parkinson's disease in a large population-based prospective cohort of Finnish men and women.
Six independent cross-sectional population surveys were carried out in five geographic areas of Finland in 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, and 1997 (17). In 1972 and 1977, a randomly selected sample making up 6.6% of the population born between 1913 and 1947 was drawn. Since 1982, the sample was stratified by area, sex, and 10-year age-group according to the World Health Organization MONICA (MONItoring trends and determinants of CArdiovascular disease) protocol (18). The subjects included in the six surveys were 2564 years of age, and the 1997 survey also included subjects aged 6574 years. Subjects who participated in more than one survey were included only in the first survey cohort. The total sample size of the six surveys was 53,166. The participation rate varied by year from 74 to 88% (17). After excluding 123 subjects because of prevalent Parkinson's disease at baseline, 112 subjects because of prevalent type 1 diabetes at baseline or during follow-up, and 1,379 subjects because of incomplete data on any variables required, the present analyses comprise 25,168 men and 26,384 women. The participants gave informed consent (verbal 19721992 and signed 1997). These surveys were conducted according to the ethical rules of the National Public Health Institute, and the investigations were performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Assessment of type 2 diabetes at baseline
Diagnosis of Parkinson's disease
Covariates At the study site, nurses specially trained for survey methodology measured height, weight, and blood pressure using the standardized protocol according to the World Health Organization MONICA project (18). Blood pressure was measured with a standard sphygmomanometer from the right arm of the participant, who was seated for 5 min before the measurement. Height was measured without shoes, and weight was measured with light clothing. BMI was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters. After blood pressure measurement, a venous blood specimen was drawn. Serum total cholesterol concentration was determined in the same laboratory for all surveys; the Lieberman Burchard method was used in 1972 and 1977 and an enzymatic method (CHOD-PAP; Boehringer Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany) since 1982. Because the enzymatic method gave 2.4% lower values than the Lieberman Burchard method, 1972 and 1977 values were corrected by this percentage.
Statistical analysis
At baseline, 591 men and 507 women were identified as having a history of type 2 diabetes. General characteristics of the study population are presented in Table 1. Men and women with a history of type 2 diabetes were older, their BMI and baseline systolic blood pressure were higher, and they had lower levels of serum total cholesterol and were less often alcohol drinkers, less often smokers, and more physically inactive than individuals without diabetes.
During a mean follow-up period of 18.0 years, 324 men and 309 women developed incident Parkinson's disease. The average ages at the time of diagnosis were 64.3 years in men and 65.8 years in women. Age- and study yearadjusted hazard ratios of incident Parkinson's disease in individuals with type 2 diabetes, compared with people without it, were 1.80 (95% CI 1.033.15) in men, 1.93 (1.053.53) in women, and 1.85 (1.232.80) in men and women combined (adjusted also for sex) (Table 2). Further adjustment for BMI, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, education, leisure-time physical activity, smoking, alcohol drinking, and coffee and tea consumption affected the results only slightly.
After exclusion of participants who were diagnosed with Parkinson's disease during the first 5 years of follow-up or who died during this period (n = 1,341), sex- and multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios of Parkinson's disease in people with type 2 diabetes, compared with people without it, was 1.88 (95% CI 1.192.99). After exclusion of participants who were diagnosed with stroke at baseline and during follow-up (n = 3,049), sex- and multivariate-adjusted type 2 diabetesassociated hazard ratio of Parkinson's disease was 2.00 (95% CI 1.293.11). After further exclusion of participants who were diagnosed with coronary heart disease at baseline (n = 1,150), sex- and multivariate-adjusted type 2 diabetesassociated hazard ratio of Parkinson's disease was 1.94 (95% CI 1.213.11). Moreover, after exclusion of participants who used neuroleptic medications at baseline or during follow-up (n = 1,817), sex- and multivariate-adjusted type 2 diabetesassociated hazard ratio of Parkinson's disease was 1.92 (95% CI 1.213.06). Table 3 shows the association of type 2 diabetes with the risk of Parkinson's disease in different subgroups. Sex- and multivariate-adjusted direct association between the history of type 2 diabetes and the risk of Parkinson's disease was present in smokers. The association was strongest in diabetic patients aged 2544 years and statistically significant also in those aged 4554 years at baseline. There were no significant interactions between age and diabetes on risk of Parkinson's disease.
In this large prospective study, type 2 diabetes was associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease among Finnish men and women. This association was independent of the known modifying factors such as smoking status, coffee and alcohol consumption, and body weight. The multivariate-adjusted association was present in both subjects aged 2544 and 4554 years and smokers. The present study is, to our knowledge, the first large prospective study to find that type 2 diabetes is a risk factor of Parkinson's disease. In one longitudinal study examining the association of diabetes at baseline with the progression of Parkinsonian-like signs, the investigators observed that diabetes was associated with worsening rigidity and gait but was not associated with an increased risk of bradykinesia or tremor (31). The presence of stroke did not substantially affect the association of diabetes with rigidity but reduced the association of diabetes with gait (31). Until now, only a few cross-sectional studies and two case-control studies have examined the prevalence of diabetes among patients with Parkinson's disease. It has been reported in one review by Sandyk (12) that over half of patients with Parkinson's disease have abnormal glucose tolerance. In a national survey of 24,831 U.S. elderly adults, the investigators found that the prevalence of diabetes among adults with Parkinson's disease was higher compared with people without Parkinson's disease (13). In two case-control studies, the prevalence of diabetes among patients with Parkinson's disease was lower compared with the control group (14,15). A moderately reduced risk of Parkinson's disease was associated with diabetes among men but not women in one case-control study (14). In another case-control study, diabetes was significantly associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease in the univariate analysis but not in the multivariate analysis (15). Several reasons for the inconsistency of these two case-control studies with our study can be considered. First, potential recall bias, in the case of Parkinson's disease, could be substantial because patients often experience cognitive decline and tend to gradually change their lifestyles before the diagnoses. It has been shown that patients with Parkinson's disease often will develop dementia, but in their article (14,15), all patients with Parkinson's disease were newly diagnosed and the authors did not report any cases of dementia among patients with Parkinson's disease. In the present study, we also have no information about the dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Second, the risk effect of diabetes on Parkinson's disease could be diminished in a case-control study due to survival bias associated with high mortality among diabetic patients. Third, the authors did not differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes in one case-control study (14). Fourth, there is a possibility for a reverse causality, i.e., that the development of Parkinson's disease may influence risk factors for diabetes as seen to happen for other chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (32,33). Finally, they did not measure some important factors associated with both type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease, such as coffee and alcohol consumption, BMI, serum lipids, and physical activity (14,15). Even though the mechanism of the association between history of type 2 diabetes and the risk of Parkinson's disease is poorly understood, several putative mechanisms can be proposed. Animal and in vitro studies have shown a role for insulin in the regulation of brain dopanergic activity. Insulin and dopamine may exert reciprocal regulation (16). Recently, insulin dysregulation and changes in insulin action have been of concern in the pathophysiology and clinical symptoms of Parkinson's disease (16). Several lifestyle factors are associated with the risk of both type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Cigarette smoking increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, whereas some studies have suggested an inverse association between cigarette smoking and the risk of Parkinson's disease (34). Coffee drinking (caffeine) is known to reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease (34). Although no association between total alcohol intake and the risk of Parkinson's disease has been found in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and the Nurses' Health Study, the combined analysis of these two studies found that beer drinkers had a 30% lower incidence of Parkinson's disease than nonbeer drinkers (35). A significantly inverse association between leisure-time physical activity and the risk of Parkinson's disease has been found among men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study but not among women in the Nurses' Health Study (36). In the present study, Finnish men and women with the history of type 2 diabetes were less often alcohol drinkers, less often smokers, and were less active than people without diabetes. However, there were no differences in coffee consumption between Finnish subjects with and without type 2 diabetes. In our study, we took into account the possible effect of all lifestyle factors by adjusting for baseline habits of tea consumption, coffee and alcohol consumption, smoking, and leisure-time physical activity in the data analyses.
It could also be hypothesized that diabetes might increase the risk of Parkinson's disease partly through excess body weight. A statistically significant direct association between triceps skinfold thickness and the risk of Parkinson's disease has been found in the Honolulu Heart Program including 7,990 Japanese-American men in Hawaii (37). We have demonstrated that excess weight, defined as a BMI of There are several strengths and limitations of our study. The study was population based and was based on a large number of men and women from a homogeneous population. The mean follow-up (18.0 years) was long. The sample included the largest number of patients with Parkinson's disease reported in any prospective study to date; thus, statistical power in our study was high. Cerebrovascular disorders, coronary heart disease, and certain drugs are among the important causes of secondary Parkinsonism and vascular Parkinsonism (3840). Exclusion of subjects with stroke or coronary heart disease or those who used neuroleptic drugs did not attenuate the association between type 2 diabetes and the Parkinson's disease risk. The main limitations of our study included, first, the absence of information in surveillance of diabetic patients from nondiabetic patients during the follow-up. Second, because we did not carry out either fasting glucose measurement or a glucose tolerance test at the baseline, we may have missed some cases of asymptomatic or diet-treated diabetes. Third, we did not have data on the severity and duration of diabetes, glucose control, and the type of drugs used for the treatment of diabetes. Fourth, because our data allowed for only a dichotomized measure of alcohol consumption in our sample, we may not have been able to control fully for the effect of this variable on the risk of Parkinson's disease. Fifth, patients with type 2 diabetes are more prone to other diseases and are therefore likely to be in contact with the health care system more often than people without diabetes. Increased surveillance of patients with diabetes for other medical conditions, including neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, could also have contributed to higher rates than among patients without diabetes, who tend to be under less intense long-term medical scrutiny. This could result in ascertainment bias. However, we think this is less likely in Parkinson's disease, because Parkinson's disease symptoms are clearly defined and are likely to bring a subject to the attention of the medical system. It could also be the case that diabetes-associated comorbidities exacerbate Parkinson's disease symptoms, so that diabetic patients with Parkinson's disease are more likely to reach the threshold at which they qualify for special reimbursement of drugs and thus be included in our sample. Sixth, we cannot completely exclude either the effects of residual confounding due to measurement error in the assessment of confounding factors or some unmeasured factors. Finally, we can exclude neither a shared environmental nor a genetic background of diabetes and the risk of Parkinson's disease. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that type 2 diabetes was associated with an elevated risk of Parkinson's disease among men and women independently of other potential confounding factors. The biological mechanisms behind the association of type 2 diabetes with the risk of Parkinson's disease are, however, not understood at present. Further studies to replicate our findings in other populations should be acknowledged.
This study was supported by the Finnish Academy (grants 46558, 204274, 205657, and 108297), the Finnish Parkinson Foundation, and Special Research Funds of the Social Welfare and Health Board, City of Oulu.
Published ahead of print at http://care.diabetesjournals.org on 24 January 2007. DOI: 10.2337/dc06-2011. A table elsewhere in this issue shows conventional and Système International (SI) units and conversion factors for many substances. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. Received for publication September 27, 2006. Accepted for publication January 17, 2007.
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