Cholecystectomy a risk factor for Parkinson’s disease in men

Undergoing a surgery to remove the gallbladder appears to contribute to an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (PD) in men, a study has found.

The study used data from the National Health Insurance Service database and included a cohort of 161,838 patients who underwent cholecystectomy and 286,135 matched controls who did not undergo the procedure. At baseline, the cholecystectomy group had a higher mean body mass index (BMI) as well as a higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus than the control group.

Over a follow-up of 7 years, a total of 1,404 individuals developed PD. The corresponding incidence rate was higher in the cholecystectomy group than in the control group (0.93 vs 0.82 per 1,000 person-years). The incidence also differed by sex, with PD occurring more frequently among men (1.09 per 1,000 person-years in the cholecystectomy group vs 0.90 per 1,000 person-years in the control group) than among women (0.77 per 1,000 person-years in the cholecystectomy group vs 0.74 per 1,000 person-years in the control group).

Multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis confirmed that cholecystectomy conferred a heightened risk of PD (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.14, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] 1.02–1.27), particularly in men (aHR, 1.22, 95 percent CI 1.06–1.41) but not in women (aHR, 1.03, 95 percent CI, 0.88–1.22).

The findings highlight the sex-specific effects of cholecystectomy on the risk of PD.