Stress-Related Disorders Linked to Subsequent Neurodegenerative Diseases

A Swedish nationwide cohort study suggests that stress-related disorders may be associated with the subsequent risk of neurodegenerative diseases, possibly through a cerebrovascular pathway. A population-matched cohort included 61 748 individuals who received their first diagnosis of stress-related disorders (posttraumatic stress disorder, acute stress reaction, adjustment disorder, and other stress reactions) between January 1, 1987, and December 31, 2008, and 595 335 matched cohort in the general population. A sibling cohort included 44 839 exposed individuals and their 78 482 unaffected full siblings. The median age at the start of follow-up was 47 (39.4% of the exposed individuals were male), with the median follow-up of 4.7 years. Compared with unexposed individuals, individuals with a stress-related disorder were at an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases (HR, 1.57). The risk increase was greater for vascular neurodegenerative diseases (HR, 1.80) than for primary neurodegenerative diseases (HR, 1.31). A statistically significant association was found for Alzheimer disease (HR, 1.36) but not Parkinson disease (HR, 1.20) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (HR, 1.20). Results from the sibling cohort corroborated results from the population-matched cohort. The findings suggest an association between stress-related disorders and an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases. Source: https://jamanetwork.com/