Fish oil supplementation, physical activity and risk of incident Parkinson's disease: results of longitudinal analysis from the UK Biobank.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective cohort study with longitudinal follow-up.
PubMed 38348197 · doi:10.3389/fnagi.2023.1304629
What was done
This prospective cohort study analyzed 385,275 participants from the UK Biobank without Parkinson's disease at baseline. Physical activity levels and fish oil supplement usage were assessed via touchscreen questionnaires. Cox proportional hazards models and restricted cubic splines evaluated the individual and interactive associations of fish oil supplementation and physical activity types with incident Parkinson's disease risk over a median follow-up of 12.52 years.
What was found
During follow-up, 2,131 incident Parkinson's disease cases were documented. Fish oil supplement users had a significantly lower risk of incident Parkinson's disease (HR 0.89; 95% CI, 0.82–0.98). Reductions in risk were also observed across physical activity domains: total physical activity (HR 0.96; 95% CI, 0.95–0.98), moderate physical activity (HR 0.93; 95% CI, 0.90–0.96), vigorous physical activity (HR 0.95; 95% CI, 0.91–0.99), and walking activity (HR 0.93; 95% CI, 0.89–0.98). Statistically significant interactions were observed between fish oil supplementation and total physical activity (P = 0.011), moderate physical activity (P = 0.015), and walking (P = 0.029).
Why it matters
This study provides large-scale observational evidence that habitual physical activity and fish oil supplementation may confer synergistic protective benefits against developing Parkinson's disease.
Limits
Exposure to physical activity and fish oil supplements was self-reported via baseline questionnaires, creating potential for recall bias and misclassification. Fish oil dosage, composition (EPA/DHA concentrations), and duration of use were not reported in the abstract. As an observational study, residual confounding and healthy-user bias cannot be ruled out.
Cited by
- supports Observational studies show that individuals taking fish oil have a lower risk of Parkinson's disease.