Symptomless Stroke Can Cause Parkinson’s Disease, New Study Finds

Helen Holmes December 19, 2012

Mild and major strokes often leave patients some form of disabilities. Even the stroke which doesn’t have any symptoms could lead to serious health problems too, such as Parkinson’s disease – a new study found.

Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that is caused by the spontaneous degeneration of certain brain areas that specifically control our movements, as well as the mechanisms that allow our body to maintain its normal posture. Certain diseases however, have been shown to increase the risk of Parkinson’s, such as severe stroke. But for the first time, scientists at the University of Manchester found that even a small, hard-to-detect stroke can cause Parkinson’s.

Unlike severe stroke, a small or silent stroke doesn’t have any outward symptoms. It happens when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked for a very short period of time. As this happens, the patient experiences no undesirable symptom at all. But according to the researchers, silent stroke does have lasting effects which can be very serious. One of them is the death of the dopaminergic neurons found in the substantia nigra – the region of the brain involved in movement coordination. Previous research has shown that the death of the dopaminergic neurons cause Parkinson’s disease.

For their experiment, the researchers induced a mild stroke (similar to silent stroke) in the brain of the mice, particularly in the striatum area. As expected, brain damage and inflammation were developed in such area. What surprised the team was the fact that the substantia nigra was also affected. When they looked into it, they noticed a rapid loss of the substance P – a chemical involved in its functions.

Just six days after the mild stroke has been induced, the dopaminergic neurones have died.

According to Dr. Emmanuel Pinteaux, the lead researcher, their work shows how silent stroke can greatly damage the area involved in movement coordination. He suggests that it is important for stroke patients to have speedy access to anti-inflammatory medication as these drugs can potentially prevent or delay the onset of Parkinson’s disease.

The researchers also emphasised the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Exercising and observing proper diet – these all help cut the risk of stroke, and consequently lower down the possibility of Parkinson’s.

In future studies, the team wanted to conduct a clinical investigation of people who had mild stroke to assess the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons.

The study was published in the journal Brain Behaviour and Immunity.

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Silent stroke can cause Parkinson’s disease