Risk of Parkinson’s-like symptoms higher in those with ASD

A large-scale study suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and/or intellectual disability are at increased risk of developing Parkinson’s-like symptoms—for example, tremors, sudden freezing while walking, and an abnormal posture—as they age.

Gregory Wallace and colleagues reviewed medical records for more than 247,000 people who were 45 years of age or older and had ASD, intellectual disability, or both. Their analysis showed that approximately 6% of individuals with either ASD or intellectual disability, and more than 7% of those with both conditions, exhibited symptoms of parkinsonism. In the general population, only 0.11% to 1.85% of individuals in the same age range have Parkinson’s-like symptoms.

Wallace comments that the team’s findings are “a big deal as we think about planning and what we should be screening or looking for as autistic people age.”

A 2023 meta-analysis by Aaron Shengting Mai and colleagues also detected an elevated prevalence of Parkinson’s-like symptoms in individuals with ASD, and suggested that certain genes implicated in both ASD and Parkinson’s disease—in particular, a gene called PARK2—may play a role in this association. Medications commonly prescribed to individuals with ASD are linked to Parkinson’s-like symptoms as well; however, in the new study, when Wallace and his colleagues excluded individuals taking these drugs during the time frame they studied, rates of Parkinson’s-like symptoms remained elevated.

Wallace comments that the team’s findings are “a big deal as we think about planning and what we should be screening or looking for as autistic people age.” He also notes, “Many autistic people, when they’re younger, have motoric symptoms or issues with motor functioning. We want to figure out if it is a parkinsonism, a broader array of these motoric features, or is it a neurodegenerative process.”

Wallace and colleagues presented their findings at the May 16, 2024, meeting of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR), and their research is not yet peer-reviewed.

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“Autistic people three times more likely to develop Parkinson’s like symptoms,” Miryam Naddaf, Nature, May 28, 2024.

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“Linking autism spectrum disorders and parkinsonism: clinical and genetic association,” Aaron Shengting Mai, Chun En Yau, Fan ShuenTseng, Qi Xuan Joel Foo, Dennis Qing Wang, andEng-King Tan, Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, February 2023 (free online). Address: Eng-King Tan, Department of Neurology, Singapore General Hospital Campus, National Neuroscience Institute, Neuroscience and Behavioral Disorders, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Rd, Singapore 169857, Singapore, [email protected]