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THURSDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Specific personality traits might boost the risk for Parkinson's disease, British researchers report.
A more cautious, risk-averse approach to life may be linked to increased odds for the motor neuron disease, says a team reporting in the February issue of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
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"This study raises the possibility that there is a neurobiological link between low sensation-seeking traits which might underlie the parkinsonism personality," the researchers wrote.
And because more reserved types are less likely to smoke, the finding could throw water on the notion that smoking somehow protects against Parkinson's disease, the researchers added.
In fact, the study was undertaken not primarily to look at personality but to examine the effects of tobacco, alcohol and caffeine on the condition, explained Dr. Andrew H. Evans, who worked on the study while in England and now is a neurologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia.
"Over the past 10 to 15 years, there has been an abundance of evidence linking smoking, coffee and alcohol intake as a protective factor," Evans noted.
Investigating further, researchers at the Reta Lila Weston Institute of Neurological Studies in London examined the drinking and smoking habits and consumption of caffeine of 106 people with Parkinson's disease and 106 unaffected individuals.
They also compared participant answers from three standard personality tests measuring depression, anxiety and the willingness to seek sensational experiences.
As expected, the Parkinson's patients drank less, smoked less and consumed less caffeine-containing beverages -- not a surprising finding, since earlier studies have found the same thing, leading some neurologists to speculate that smoking might protect against the disease.
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