Hearing loss and epilepsy could be the first signs of Parkinson’s

On the 7th, a study by the Queen Mary University of London (UK) pointed to hearing loss and epilepsy as the first signs of Parkinson’s. The team analyzed the health records of more than 1 million London residents. Among them, 1,055 were diagnosed with the disease in question.

According to the article, the classic signs of Parkinson’s (such as tremors or memory loss) appear five to ten years before diagnosis, but the scientists’ big finding is that patients with epilepsy were twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease. .

Hearing loss signaled a 66% increase in Parkinson’s risk, the researchers estimated. The theory is that this consequence is linked to the onset of changes in brain functions. The article also mentions the possibility of a connection between drugs for epilepsy and Parkinson’s. The prevalence of epilepsy in patients with the disease is considerably higher than the estimated prevalence in the general population, according to the study.

The researchers themselves acknowledge that these findings could help medicine diagnose and treat Parkinson’s disease earlier. However, more research is still needed to fully understand the relationship between the observed signs and the disease.

However, it is worth noting that there are other early symptoms of Parkinson’s, such as small handwriting, loss of smell, difficulty walking, constipation, low voice, dizziness, fainting, and stooping.

Source: Canaltech

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