Common developmental condition linked to higher risk of Parkinsons-related disorders

Older adults diagnosed with autism face a significantly higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease-related movement disorders compared to the general population, according to a large new study published in the journal Autism.Researchers analyzed Medicare and Medicaid claims data covering nearly 57 million Americans aged 45 and older between 2017 and 2019.Individuals on the spectrum, as well as those with intellectual disabilities, were diagnosed with Parkinsonism at much higher rates than those without autism.Parkinsonism refers to a range of neurological conditions characterized by certain movement symptoms, including tremors, muscle rigidity, balance difficulties, and slowed voluntary movement, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation.While earlier research suggested an overlap between autism and motor decline later in life, it was unclear whether those problems stemmed from the condition or from antipsychotic medications, which are widely known to trigger Parkinson’s-like symptoms as a secondary side effect.To determine whether medications explained the link, researchers excluded people who took antipsychotics from the analysis.They still found higher rates of Parkinson’s-related diagnoses in neurodivergent populations.In the general population control group, the prevalence of parkinsonism was roughly 1.57%.

The prevalence rose to 3.83% among adults with autism alone, 4.32% for those with an intellectual disability alone, and 4.86% among individuals diagnosed with both autism and an intellectual disability.“A critically important new contribution of this study is increased incidence rates of parkinsonism for autistic people in middle and older adulthood, which suggests that these cases aren’t simply a byproduct of lifelong motor challenges,” Greg Wallace, lead author and a professor in the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., said in a press release.The study represents the f...