According to recent research from the American Heart Association, those that have had a heart attack in the past might be less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease as they age.
This was a surprising find for the team behind this study. They acknowledged that they expected to find the opposite while they were beginning this study. The reasons for this original assumption was that cardiovascular events like ischemic stroke are associated with something that has come to be known as secondary parkinsonism. This health issue is not Parkinson’s, but rather Parkinson’s-like symptoms. For researchers to find that heart attacks seemed to have the opposite outcome on Parkinson’s was a big surprise.
Of course, the big question that this begs is why. Why are people who suffer from a heart attack seemingly less at risk for Parkinson’s?
As for that, researchers aren’t quite sure yet. They were unable to determine from the information available if those who had suffered from a heart attack were more likely to carry some sort of genetic protection against Parkinson’s or if some other factor was in play. There’s a lot more research needed here if we are going to fully understand why this seems to be the case.
One hypothesis is the presence of smoking in people’s lives. Parkinson’s is one of the very few diseases that smoking seems to protect against. However, those who smoke are far more likely to face other health issues–with heart attacks being one of them.
The research was conducted by examining health records. Those that had a heart attack were examined, with the average look forward of 21 years. They found that those who had suffered a heart attack were 20 percent less likely to develop Parkinson’s and 28 percent less likely to suffer secondary parkinsonism.
The team published their results in the Journal of the American Heart Association. It outlines a very interesting observation regarding the relationship between heart attacks and Parkinson’s disease. Although a lot more research is needed here to make sense of the data that was showcased, it has the potential to serve as a starting point for future researchers. Hopefully, this helps researchers in the future to better understand both heart attacks and Parkinson’s, and then to develop more effective methods of addressing them.
This does not mean that those who have had a heart attack have fewer health concerns to worry about. Heart disease carries a whole different list of issues that can arise. Heart disease is still the number one killer in the United States; it’s important not to understate how serious of an issue this is. Once someone has had a heart attack, they are at a high risk of a second one, suffering a stroke, and other vascular diseases. Taking safeguards to improve health is important for heart attack survivors.
Staying in contact with a doctor is important for those that have serious health issues, such as higher risk of heart attack. If you are in need of help, please don’t hesitate to reach out to a professional.
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