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Allergies Current Topics in Allergies

A Link between Allergies and Parkinson's?

People who suffer with long-term nasal allergies may be up to three times more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than those who don't, researchers from the Mayo Clinic have found.

While Parkinson's disease is not well understood, previous studies have shown that people who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, are less likely to develop the disease. So, researchers believe that inflammation in some way increases the risk of developing Parkinson's.

"There is accumulating laboratory and clinical evidence that inflammation may play a role," wrote Dr. James Bower and colleagues in Neurology.

To further determine the role that inflammation may play in the development of Parkinson's, Bower looked at the medical records of 196 men and women with Parkinson's disease and 196 people of a similar age and gender who did not. For each patient, they looked to see if there was any history of inflammatory disease, such as allergic rhinitis (nasal allergies), asthma, hay fever, anemia, lupus and arthritis.

While no association was found with any other disease, those patients with allergic rhinitis were 2.9 times more likely to develop Parkinson's. Allergic rhinitis is characterized as any long-term nasal allergy to things like dust, pollen and pet hair. It is caused when the body's immune system tried to attack these foreign invaders, causing the inflammation of the nasal and sinus regions.

While the connection between allergic rhinitis and Parkinson's is unclear, Bower thinks that having this type of allergy over a long time is a sign that one's body is more likely to have excess inflammation than a person without it.

"People with allergic rhinitis mount an immune response with their allergies, so they may be more likely to mount an immune response in the brain as well, which would produce inflammation," said Bower, "The inflammation produced may release certain chemicals in the brain and inadvertently kill brain cells, as we see in Parkinson's"

Bower cautions, however, that his study was small and more work needs to be done to truly link Parkinson's with inflammation of any kind.

"I wouldn't worry if you have allergies," he said, adding that the clues found in this study may help researchers develop medications to block inflammation and prevent Parkinson's disease.