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Parkinson’s And Heart Problems

Heart Attack Survivors May Be Less Likely To Develop Parkinson’s Disease

What is Parkinson’s Disease?

by American Heart Association

People who have had a heart attack may be slightly less likely than people in the general population to develop Parkinson’s disease later in life, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder characterized by progressive loss of physical movement, including tremors, slow or slurred speech, and/or stiffness or limited range of motion for walking and other physical activities. There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, and it is also associated with behavioral changes, depression, memory loss and fatigue. Secondary parkinsonism, which has symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease, may be caused by stroke, psychiatric or cardiovascular medications, or other illness.

“We have previously found that following a heart attack, the risk of neurovascular complications such as ischemic stroke or vascular dementia is markedly increased, so the finding of a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease was somewhat surprising,” said lead study author Jens Sundbøll, M.D., Ph.D., from the departments of clinical epidemiology and cardiology at the Aarhus University Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark. “These findings indicate that the risk of Parkinson’s disease is at least not increased following a heart attack and should not be a worry for patients or a preventive focus for clinicians at follow-up.

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Checking For Heart Valve Disease

In a separate study from Italy, researchers performed echocardiograms on Parkinson’s patients being treated with either ergot-derived or nonergot-derived dopamine-targeting drugs. An echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart which can provide information on the heart’s chambers and valves and how well blood is pumping through the heart.

Compared with an age-matched group without Parkinson’s disease, patients taking pergolide or cabergoline had significantly more evidence of heart valve disease.

Clinically important evidence of valve damage was seen in roughly 5% of the comparison group, compared with 23% of patients taking pergolide and 28% of patients taking cabergoline.

Garbe says it is clear from the two studies that patients taking either pergolide or cabergoline should be monitored closely for heart valve damage.

“We aren’t saying that these drugs should not be used,” she says. “I think if patients are appropriately followed they can be prescribed. But neurologists and other treating physicians have to be made aware of the risks.”

A spokesman for pergolide manufacturer Valeant Pharmaceuticals International tells WebMD that the company would have no direct comment on the two new studies. But a company statement reaffirmed the safety of the drug.

Also Check: Diseases Similar To Parkinsons

Myth : Parkinsons Research Is Stalled

Fact: It may feel as though theres nothing dramatic going on in the Parkinsons disease field, but there are several recent and very exciting breakthroughs regarding our understanding of the underlying pathology and disease mechanism. This will translate into actual clinical results in the next few years.

The Facts About Parkinsons Disease

Damage to Heart Nerve Cells can Identify Parkinsons Disease

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurogenerative disease that causes nerve cells in the area of the brain that controls movement to weaken and/or die. While healthy neurons produce a chemical called dopamine, which the brain needs a certain amount of in order to regulate movement, weakened neurons produce lower levels of dopamine. What causes these neurons to weaken is currently unknown.

Some patients with Parkinson’s disease also suffer from a decline in norepinephrine, a chemical that transmits signals across nerve endings and controls various functions, such as blood pressure and heart rate.

More than 10 million people worldwide are currently living with Parkinson’s disease and nearly one million will be living with the disease in the United States this year, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation.

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Understanding The Links Between Cardiovascular Disease And Parkinson’s Disease

Judy Potashkin PhD

The Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology Department, The Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, Illinois, USA

Claudia Becker PhD

Basel Pharmacoepidemiology Unit, Division of Clinical Pharmacy and Epidemiology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

The Edmond J Safra Program in Parkinson’s Research, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Correspondence to:

Judy Potashkin PhD

The Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology Department, The Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, Illinois, USA

Claudia Becker PhD

Basel Pharmacoepidemiology Unit, Division of Clinical Pharmacy and Epidemiology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

The Edmond J Safra Program in Parkinson’s Research, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Correspondence to:

How Is The Body Affected

The following are motor and non-motor symptoms that may be experienced by people with Parkinsons disease.

Motor symptoms:

  • Resting tremor shaking of a hand, arm or leg while at rest. Tremor is the first symptom to appear in 70% of people with Parkinsons disease. About 30% never have a tremor.
  • Stiffness in muscles and joints can limit movement and cause pain.
  • Slowness of movement called bradykinesia with time, simple tasks can become difficult and time-consuming, your steps shorten and you may drag your feet
  • Problems with posture you may become stooped
  • Problems with balance you may have trouble standing up, maintaining your balance and walking
  • Small handwriting
  • Changes in the ability to think such as dementia

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Heart Attack Survivors May Be Less Likely To Develop Parkinsons Disease

Research Highlights:

  • People who have had a heart attack are at increased risk of stroke and vascular dementia however, a new study found they may be less likely to develop Parkinsons disease.
  • A large, nationwide study in Denmark found that the risk of Parkinsons disease was moderately lower among people who have had a heart attack than among the general population.

Embargoed until 4 a.m. CT/5 a.m. ET Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022

DALLAS, Feb. 16, 2022 People who have had a heart attack may be slightly less likely than people in the general population to develop Parkinsons disease later in life, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

Parkinsons disease is a brain disorder characterized by progressive loss of physical movement, including tremors, slow or slurred speech, and/or stiffness or limited range of motion for walking and other physical activities. There is no cure for Parkinsons disease, and it is also associated with behavioral changes, depression, memory loss and fatigue. Secondary parkinsonism, which has symptoms similar to Parkinsons disease, may be caused by stroke, psychiatric or cardiovascular medications, or other illness.

Over a maximum continual follow-up of 21 years, after adjusting for a wide range of potential confounding factors, the analysis found that, when compared to the control group:

Additional Resources:

Way Of Diagnosing Parkinsons By Skin Smell Test Detailed In Study

The Science and Heart of Caring for Someone with Parkinsons Disease

Cardiovascular problems can affect blood flow and blood vessel health in the brain, potentially resulting in blood clot-caused strokes and vascular dementia, a type of dementia that results from a series of small, silent strokes.

In agreement, heart attack survivors are at a higher risk of these cerebrovascular complications which can cause vascular parkinsonism, a condition characterized by Parkinsons-like symptoms due to a small stroke in motor-related brain regions.

Notably, a heart attack and Parkinsons disease share several risk factors, including age and male sex, while coffee consumption and being physical active are reported to lower the risk of both diseases.

Conversely, several studies confirm that classic cardiovascular risk factors, such as smoking, , increased blood pressure, and diabetes, are associated with a lower risk of Parkinsons, the researchers wrote.

Whether this inverse association extends to overt cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, however, is unclear.

Sundbøll and colleagues at Aarhus University Hospital examined health registries from the Danish National Health Service between 1995 and 2016 to analyze the frequency of Parkinsons and parkinsonism among people with and without a history of heart attack.

While Parkinsons is primarily a neurodegenerative disease, parkinsonism has several underlying causes besides primary neurodegenerative processes, including a variety of vascular mechanisms, the researchers wrote.

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Risk For Parkinson’s Disease Falls After A Heart Attack

  • Amy Norton

FRIDAY, Feb. 18, 2022 — A new study hints that heart attack survivors may have an unusual advantage over other people: a slightly lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

Researchers found that compared with similar people who had never suffered a heart attack, survivors were 20% less likely to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s over the next 20 years.

The big caveat: The findings do not prove a true “protective” effect. And even if that were the case, no one would advocate letting your heart health go to ward off Parkinson’s.

“This is an epidemiology study, and it can’t prove cause and effect,” said James Beck, chief scientific officer for the nonprofit Parkinson’s Foundation.

There could be various reasons that heart attack was linked to a lower risk of Parkinson’s, according to Beck, who was not involved in the study.

Plus, he noted, the risk reduction was quite small.

The findings — published Feb. 16 in the Journal of the American Heart Association — do add to evidence that certain risk factors for heart disease, including smoking and high cholesterol, are paradoxically tied to a lower risk of Parkinson’s.

Parkinson’s disease affects nearly 1 million people in the United States, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation.

It is a brain disease that over time, destroys or disables cells that produce dopamine, a chemical that helps regulate movement and emotional responses.

“We still don’t know the cause of PD, why it progresses, or how to stop it,” Beck said.

Heart Attack Survivors Less Likely To Develop Parkinsons Disease: Study

Dallas: Does heart attack have a connection to Parkinsons disease? According to new research, people who have had a heart attack may be slightly less likely than people in the general population to develop Parkinsons disease later in life.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

Parkinsons disease is a brain disorder characterized by progressive loss of physical movement, including tremors, slow or slurred speech, and/or stiffness or limited range of motion for walking and other physical activities. There is no cure for Parkinsons disease, and it is also associated with behavioural changes, depression, memory loss and fatigue. Secondary Parkinsonism, which has symptoms similar to Parkinsons disease, may be caused by stroke, psychiatric or cardiovascular medications, or other illnesses.

It is not known whether this inverse relationship with risk of Parkinsons disease extends to people who have had a heart attack. Therefore, we examined the long-term risk of Parkinsons disease and secondary parkinsonism among heart attack survivors, Sundboll said.

In general, more heart attack patients smoke and have elevated cholesterol, either of which may explain the slightly reduced risk of Parkinsons disease among heart attack survivors.

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Ways To Decrease Risk Of Heart Disease

As in the general population, heart disease in people with PD can be decreased by managing traditional risk factors:

  • Smoking cessation According to the American Heart Association, smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death in the U.S. Smoking increases the risk of developing many chronic disorders, including atherosclerosis that can lead to heart disease and stroke.3
  • Treatment of high blood pressure Approximately 90% of all Americans will develop hypertension, or high blood pressure, over their lifetime. Hypertension puts more stress on arteries and can cause damage over time.3
  • Treatment of high cholesterol High cholesterol is one of the major controllable risk factor for heart disease. When too much LDL cholesterol is in the blood, it can build up in the artery walls and narrow the vessels that feed the heart and brain.3
  • Control of diabetes Diabetes can affect many major organs in the body, including the heart. Fortunately, diabetes is treatable and often preventable.3

Researchers Trace Parkinson’s Damage In The Heart

parkinson
Date:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Summary:
A new way to examine stress and inflammation in the heart will help Parkinson’s researchers test new therapies and explore an unappreciated way the disease puts people at risk of falls and hospitalization.

A new way to examine stress and inflammation in the heart will help Parkinson’s researchers test new therapies and explore an unappreciated way the disease puts people at risk of falls and hospitalization.

“This neural degeneration in the heart means patients’ bodies are less prepared to respond to stress and to simple changes like standing up,” says Marina Emborg, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of medical physics and Parkinson’s researcher at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center. “They have increased risk for fatigue, fainting and falling that can cause injury and complicate other symptoms of the disease.”

Emborg, graduate student Jeanette Metzger, and colleagues including UW-Madison specialists in cardiology and medical imaging developed a method for tracking the mechanisms that cause the damage to heart nerve cells. They tested the method in the human-like nervous system and heart of monkeys, and published their results today in the journal npj Parkinson’s Disease.

The scans were accurate enough to allow the researchers to focus on changes over time in specific areas of the heart’s left ventricle.

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How To Decrease The Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease

Here are the controllable risk factors guess which of these can be controlled by exercise and a healthier diet?

  • Sitting too much
  • Stress

Every single one. Yes ALL OF THEM! Lets break it down.

  • Sitting too much . Sitting is the new smoking. If you are sitting more than you are moving, you are sitting too much. Moving your body keeps your system humming and in good health. Daily exercise and sitting less helps prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, the list goes on.
  • Overweight/obesity. Exercising aerobically with added resistive training, helps you burn extra calories and stored fat it also helps curb your appetite. A healthy calorically-balanced diet with a lot of healthy vegetables, grains and fats, can help you lose excess fat and replace processed foods.

There are other risk factors you can not control like age, gender and family history, so control what you can. Two or more risk factors are a loud message to take action.

If your risk factors are too high and youve been prescribed medication to help control it, do yourself a favorhelp your medicine work! Exercise, eat healthy, get back to your fighting weight, build muscle. Impress your doctor with the new you. Your doctor may even decrease or eliminate some of your meds. Isnt that what we all want? Fewer meds, less hassle, save money, feel great!

Be as healthy as you can and feel better, move better.

~Coach Kimberly

Treatments For Wpw Syndrome

In many cases, episodes of abnormal heart activity associated with WPW syndrome are harmless, don’t last long, and settle down on their own without treatment.

You may therefore not need any treatment if your symptoms are mild or occur very occasionally, although you should still have regular check-ups so your heart can be monitored.

If your cardiologist recommends treatment, there are a number of options available. You can have treatment to either stop episodes when they occur, or prevent them occurring in the future.

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Myth : Parkinsons Disease Is Fatal

Fact: Although a diagnosis of Parkinsons is devastating, it is not as some people may still believe a death sentence. Parkinsons disease is not a direct killer, like stroke or heart attack. That said, much depends on the quality of your care, both from your medical team and yourself.

As the disease progresses, you may become more vulnerable to falls, which can be dangerous. Thats why exercise and physical therapy are so important.

Infection is another problem. In later stages of Parkinsons, people often miss those signals and may not notice somethings up until its too late. That can be, literally, a killer so be sure to stay up to date with checkups.

Understanding The Neurologic Control Of The Cardiac System

Mindfulness Monday for Parkinson’s Disease – Mantra for Stress Relief

Before we explore this issue, lets first learn a bit about the autonomic nervous system and about the cardiac systems place within it. The ANS is part of the peripheral nervous system, a network of nerves throughout the body. The ANS exerts control over functions that are not under conscious direction such as respiration, heart function, blood pressure, digestion, urination, sexual function, pupillary response, and much more. The ANS is further subdivided into the parasympathetic nervous system and the sympathetic nervous system. Both the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems regulate most major organs. Often, they have opposite effects, with the sympathetic nervous system activating a system and the parasympathetic system calming it down.

One of the systems controlled by the ANS is cardiac regulation. Blood pressure sensors, known as baroreceptors, reside in the heart as well as in the carotid artery, the major artery in the neck. If the baroreceptors sense a change in the blood pressure, a signal is sent to particular areas in the brain. From there, the autonomic nervous system sends signals to the heart to control heart rate and cardiac output. Signals are also sent to the blood vessels to change the size of their diameter, thereby regulating blood pressure.

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