Heart drugs may protect against Parkinson's
29 January 2010
New research published in the journal Annals
of Neurology this week suggests that drugs used to treat heart
problems may also reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's.
We now need studies that can tell us exactly how calcium affects the nerve cells involved in Parkinson's. Then we can develop treatments that produce the maximum benefits.
Dr Kieran Breen, Director of Research
Researchers at the UCLA School of Public Health and the Danish
Cancer Society compared the medical histories of 1,931 people with
Parkinson's to 9,651 people without the condition.
They found that the chances of people who took certain heart
medications known as 'calcium channel blockers' developing
Parkinson's were decreased by 26 to 30%.
Why is calcium important?
Calcium channel blockers are used to treat heart problems like
angina, high blood pressure, and abnormal heart rhythms because
they can cross the blood-brain barrier.
The cells in the heart and the arteries have calcium channels.
When these channels open, calcium flows into the cells, causing the
muscles to contract and the heart to beat.
Calcium channel blockers help widen the arteries and slow the
heart rate. This lowers the blood pressure and means that the heart
doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood around the body.
People with Parkinson's don't have enough of a chemical dopamine
because some of the nerve cells in the brain die. Crucially, the
nerve cells lost inside the brain in Parkinson's have the same type
of calcium channels.
Are calcium channel blockers the key to Parkinson's?
Dr Kieran Breen, our Director of Research and Development,
comments:
"This research is exciting because these drugs have the
potential to act on brain neurons and may have a protective effect,
which could lead to new and better treatments.
"But people who take calcium channel blockers do still develop
Parkinson's. So, these drugs are not going to be the whole answer
to Parkinson's.
"People with Parkinson's can also be prone to low blood
pressure, a problem which could be worsened by taking calcium
channel blockers inappropriately.
"We now need studies that can tell us exactly how calcium
affects the nerve cells involved in Parkinson's. Then we can
develop treatments that produce the maximum benefits."
Find out more about current treatments
Read about current drug treatments
for Parkinson's.
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