A study conducted by researchers from Umea University in Sweden claim that patients suffering from Parkinson's disease were thought to have to have low muscle strength in their adulthood. This can be explained with higher frequency of falls due to reduced balance.
The research found that patients suffering from Parkinson's disease have a higher risk of falls and injuries leading to hip fractures up to 26 years before being diagnosed with the disease.
Parkinson's disease affects the nerve cells in the brain of the patients that can produce dopamine and the disease affects individuals at the age of 70. The disease makes the muscles rigid and affects mobility and balance.
The study examined data from about 3.3 million patients aged 50 years or older in 2005. Among these 24.412 individuals were diagnose with Parkinson's disease from 1988 to 2012 and they were matched with a control group of 10 people each, according to The Economic Times.
After analysis of the data, researchers found that 11.5 percent of subjects in control group and 18 percent of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease (before the diagnosis) had at least one fall-related injury.
This result made the researchers to investigate if reduced muscular strength could lead to risk of fall leading to injury and hip fractures.
Helena NystrAm doctoral student at Umea University said in a statement, "By investigating health data from registers, we could see a correlation between individuals who were later diagnosed with Parkinson's and who were more often involved in injurious falls. It was also shown that the higher risk of hip fractures could be measured more than two decades before the diagnosis".
Researchers put forth that patients suffering from Parkinson's disease are at higher risk of hip fractures and they anticipate that it could be due to reduced balance and incapability of rotating the body in the event of a fall in order to protect the hip.
