Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder characterized by progressive loss of physical movement, including tremors, slow or slurred speech, and/or stiffness or limited range of motion for walking and other physical activities. There is no cure for Parkinson's disease, and it is also associated with behavioural changes, depression, memory loss and fatigue. Secondary Parkinsonism, which has symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease, may be caused by stroke, psychiatric or cardiovascular medications, or other illnesses. "We have previously found that following a heart attack, the risk of neurovascular complications such as ischemic stroke [clot-caused stroke] or vascular dementia is markedly increased, so the finding of a lower risk of Parkinson's disease was somewhat surprising," said lead study author Jens Sundboll, M.D., PhD, from the departments of clinical epidemiology and cardiology at the Aarhus University Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark. "These findings indicate that the risk of Parkinson's disease is at least not increased following a heart attack and should not be a worry for patients or a preventive focus for clinicians at follow-up."