Category: Epidemiology
Objective: To determine the role of obesity in the development of Parkinson’s disease in a retrospective matched cohort study.
Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder in which a unifying cause remains unknown. Cardiovascular risk factors have been associated with the development of PD (1-5). Obesity has been reported to be both a risk factor for PD, as well as potentially protective (6-11). The relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and the development of PD have not yet been assessed in a longitudinal manner, which is the goal of the present study. The Framingham Heart Study (FHS) is a multigenerational longitudinal cohort study that was started in 1948, which is well-known for its cardiovascular health studies (12). Neurological data, including PD diagnoses and examination data, has been collected by FHS researchers over the decades, and it is our goal to utilize the extensive cardiovascular risk factor data collected by FHS to determine if obesity, in addition to other cardiovascular risk factors, contribute to the risk of the development of PD.
Method: Participants in the FHS Original and Offspring cohorts were included in this study. Controls were randomly selected based on sex and age at baseline examination, 1:10. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used, adjusting for age and sex. PD diagnoses were made by a panel of movement disorders neurologists using the UK Brain Bank Criteria (UKBB) and other supporting clinical details after being flagged for review by FHS neurologists (13-14). We used p<0.05 for significance.
Results: Accounting for missing covariate data, the total number of participants, 117 total had PD, with 1170 controls. We found that higher BMI was associated with lower PD risk, with participants with BMI 25 kg/m2 to 30 kg/m2 having HR of 0.67 (CI 0.45-1.00; p = 0.05) and BMI >= 30 kg/m2 having HR 0.47 (CI 0.27-0.84; p = 0.01). When the overweight and obese BMI groups were combined, we noted a more robust association, with combined HR of 0.67 (0.41-0.86; p = 0.01).
Conclusion: Obesity is protective in the development of PD.
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To cite this abstract in AMA style:
S. O'Shea, Y. Liu, C. Liu, S. Frank, R. Au. Obesity is a protective factor for the development of Parkinson’s disease in participants of the Framingham Heart Study Cohort [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2023; 38 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/obesity-is-a-protective-factor-for-the-development-of-parkinsons-disease-in-participants-of-the-framingham-heart-study-cohort/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to 2023 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/obesity-is-a-protective-factor-for-the-development-of-parkinsons-disease-in-participants-of-the-framingham-heart-study-cohort/