Parkinson’s Disease and Stroke: Is There a Link?

By Leslie Coplin, Executive Editor

Parkinson’s disease and stroke may be linked, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference in Houston. Among Medicare beneficiaries, the relationships between stroke and Parkinson’s disease were similar to those between stroke and Alzheimer’s disease, said Benjamin Kummer, MD, at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.

To determine if an association exists between stroke and Parkinson’s disease, the researchers studied medical claims information from 2008 to 2014 in a sample of 1.6 million Medicare beneficiaries, aged 66 years and older. The annual incidence of ischemic stroke was 1.75% among those diagnosed with Parkinson’s compared to 0.96% in those without Parkinson’s. In addition, the annual incidence of Parkinson’s disease was 0.97% after ischemic stroke vs. 0.39% in those without ischemic stroke.

In separate analyses, the researchers also studied the relationship between stroke and Alzheimer’s disease for comparison. They found the annual incidence of ischemic stroke was 1.96% among those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease vs. 0.96% in those without Alzheimer’s. The annual incidence of Alzheimer’s was 3.66% in elderly adults diagnosed with stroke vs. 1.17% in those without ischemic stroke.

For complete coverage of the International Stroke Conference, please see the April 2017 issue of Neurology Alert. More than 4,100 healthcare professionals from 60 countries met at ISC 2017 in Houston this month to participate in educational sessions on the latest science in stroke research.