In a new study from the University of Iowa, researchers found that in the last two decades the death rate from Parkinson’s disease has risen about 63% in the United States.
They also found that the death rate was twice as high in men as in women, and there was a higher death rate in white people than other racial/ethnic groups.
The study looked at a national death registry that included 479,059 people who died of Parkinson’s between 1999 and 2019.
The researchers found that the number of people who died from the disease increased from 5.4 per 100,000 people in 1999 to 8.8 per 100,000 people in 2019. The average annual increase was 2.4%.
Researchers found mortality increased significantly across all age groups, both sexes, various racial and ethnic groups and different urban-rural classifications.
However, death rates were twice as high in men as in women.
One possible explanation for this sex difference is that estrogen, which leads to higher dopamine levels in parts of the brain that control motor responses, may protect women from developing Parkinson’s.
White people were more likely to die from Parkinson’s than other racial and ethnic groups.
In 2019, the death rate for white people was 9.7 per 100,000 people, followed by Hispanic people, at 6.5 per 100,000 people, and non-Hispanic Black people, at 4.7 per 100,000 people.
The team says it’s important to continue to evaluate long-term trends in Parkinson’s death rates.
This can inform future research that may help pinpoint why more people are dying of the disease.
If you care about Parkinson’s disease, please read studies about the major cause of Parkinson’s disease and findings of common high blood pressure drugs may prevent Parkinson’s, dementia, Huntington’s.
For more information about Parkinson’s and your health, please see recent studies about new drugs show promise in slowing down Parkinson’s disease and results showing that people with Parkinson’s may benefit from 7 walking strategies.
The study is published in Neurology. One author of the study is Wei Bao, MD, PhD.
Copyright © 2021 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
