Type 2 Diabetes and the Risk of Parkinson's Disease

  1. Gang Hu, MD, PHD12,
  2. Pekka Jousilahti, MD, PHD13,
  3. Siamak Bidel, MD12,
  4. Riitta Antikainen, MD, PHD4 and
  5. Jaakko Tuomilehto, MD, PHD125
  1. 1Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Diseases Prevention, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland
  2. 2Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  3. 3Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
  4. 4Oulu City Hospital and Department of Internal Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
  5. 5South Ostrobothnia Central Hospital, Seinäjoki, Finland
  1. 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

Abstract

OBJECTIVE—To evaluate whether type 2 diabetes at baseline is a risk factor for Parkinson's disease.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We prospectively followed 51,552 Finnish men and women 25–74 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.

RESULTS—During a mean follow-up period of 18.0 years, 324 men and 309 women developed incident Parkinson's disease. Age- and study year–adjusted hazard ratios of incident Parkinson's disease among subjects with type 2 diabetes, compared with those without it, were 1.80 (95% CI 1.03–3.15) in men, 1.93 (1.05–3.53) in women, and 1.85 (1.23–2.80) 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.

CONCLUSIONS—These 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.

Footnotes

  • 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.

    • Accepted January 17, 2007.
    • Received September 27, 2006.
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  1. Published online before print January 24, 2007, doi: 10.2337/dc06-2011 Diabetes Care April 2007 vol. 30 no. 4 842-847
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