Imagine you or someone you love has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a condition that affects both body and brain.
Now, imagine that along with this diagnosis, you’ve noticed some weight changes. Sounds quite common, right?
But, these weight changes might tell us more than you think about what’s happening to the brain.
Parkinson’s and Weight Changes: What’s the Connection?
Dr. Jin-Sun Jun from Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital in Seoul, South Korea, noticed that people with Parkinson’s often lose weight early on.
He wondered if this could indicate that their thinking skills might also be changing. To find out, he and his team did a study. Their results were published in a journal called Neurology in October 2022.
The Study Explained
So, what did they do in this study? They looked at 358 people who were just diagnosed with Parkinson’s but hadn’t started taking the medication yet.
These people were compared to 174 people without Parkinson’s. Everyone in the study was around 61 years old.
The researchers measured everyone’s weight at the beginning of the study. They checked again after one year to see if anyone had lost or gained more than 3% of their body weight.
At the same time, they gave everyone tests to measure their thinking skills. These tests were given every year for up to eight years.
They also looked for other symptoms common in Parkinson’s, like depression and sleep issues.
What Did They Find?
Turns out, the people with Parkinson’s who lost weight also had their thinking skills decline faster. On the other hand, those who gained weight saw their brain’s processing speed decline slower.
Interestingly, they didn’t see any change in other symptoms like depression or sleep issues based on weight changes.
The people without Parkinson’s didn’t show any connection between weight changes and thinking skills.
What Does It Mean?
These findings suggest that managing weight could be important in the early stages of Parkinson’s.
However, the study doesn’t prove that weight changes cause changes in thinking skills. It simply shows there’s a connection between them.
The study has some limitations. It didn’t look at whether these effects were the same in underweight or obese people. It also didn’t consider whether the weight change was on purpose or not.
Looking Forward
Despite these limitations, the study adds valuable knowledge to our understanding of Parkinson’s disease. It highlights the need for further research to understand this connection better.
So, if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and experienced weight changes, this might be something to discuss with your doctor.
After all, these changes could potentially provide early clues about changes in thinking skills. And who knows? Maybe in the future, preventing weight loss could help slow cognitive decline in people with Parkinson’s.
Remember, more research is needed. But for now, being aware of weight changes and discussing them with your healthcare provider is a good start.
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If you care about Parkinson’s disease, please read studies that Vitamin B may slow down cognitive decline, and Mediterranean diet could help lower the risk of Parkinson’s disease.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that blueberry supplements may prevent cognitive decline, and results showing Plant-based diets could protect cognitive health from air pollution.
The study was published in Neurology.
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