Association Between Upper Respiratory Tract Infections and Parkinson’s Disease in Korean Populations: A Nested Case–Control Study Using a National Health Screening Cohort
Our findings suggest that the apparent protective association between recent URI history and PD is unlikely to be causal and may instead reflect confounding by medication use or reverse causation related to the prodromal phase of PD. These results should therefore be interpreted with caution and regarded as hypothesis-generating. Further prospective studies incorporating detailed prescription data and long-term follow-up are warranted to clarify the role of infections and anti-inflammatory medications in the pathogenesis of PD.
Authors
- Hark Rım (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6341-6711)
- Ji Hee Kim
- Hyo Geun Choi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1655-9549)
- Joo‐Hyun Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4358-4208)
- Jee Hye Wee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6513-7011)
- Ho Suk Kang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3808-2385)
- Joon Ho Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3138-074X)
- In Bok Chang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8003-3264)
- Mi Jung Kwon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2441-0448)
- Hoang C.B. Nguyen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6975-3084)
Institutions
- Namseoul University (KR)
- Hallym University (KR)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital (KR)
- Sacred Heart Hospital (US)
- Hallym University Medical Center (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Brain Sciences
- Published
- 2025-08-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15090939
- Primary Topic
- Pediatric health and respiratory diseases
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Research Foundation of Korea