title: Total cholesterol and the risk of Parkinson disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between serum total cholesterol at baseline and the risk of Parkinson disease (PD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Study cohorts included 24,773 Finnish men and 26,153 women aged 25 to 74 years without a history of PD and stroke at baseline. Hazard ratios (HRs) of incident PD were estimated for different levels of total cholesterol.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During a mean follow-up period of 18.1 years, 321 men and 304 women developed incident PD. After adjustment for confounding factors (age, study years, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, education, leisure-time physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, coffee and tea consumption, and history of diabetes), the HRs of PD at different levels of total cholesterol (<5, 5-5.9, 6-6.9, and >or=7 mmol/L) were 1.00, 1.33, 1.53, and 1.84 (p for trend = 0.035) in men; 1.00, 1.55, 1.57, and 1.86 (p for trend = 0.113) in women; and 1.00, 1.42, 1.56, and 1.86 (p for trend = 0.002) in men and women combined (adjusted also for sex). In both sexes combined, the increased risk of PD associated with increasing levels of serum total cholesterol was present both in subjects aged 25-44 years and in subjects aged 45-54 years at baseline, and in never smokers and smokers; however, no association was found among subjects aged 55 years or older at baseline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This large prospective study suggests that high total cholesterol at baseline is associated with an increased risk of Parkinson disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Diseases Prevention, National Public Health Institute, Mannerheimintie 166, FIN-00300 Helsinki, Finland. hu.gang@ktl.fi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Antikainen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jousilahti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kivipelto
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tuomilehto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol