Older adults using Statin have a lower risk of developing Parkinsonism later
Parkinson’s disease affects more than 10 million individuals globally, according to the World Health Organization. It is more common as people get older. However, about 4% of persons with the disease are diagnosed before they are 50. Men are 1.5 times more likely than women to develop Parkinson’s disease.
The new study was published in the American Academy of Neurology’s medical magazine. According to the findings, older persons who use Statin medicines have a decreased risk of developing Parkinsonism later in life than those who do not. The study included 2,841 participants with an average age of 76 who did not have Parkinson’s disease at the outset. Nine hundred and thirty-six people, or 33%, were taking Statin.
The research was followed up annually for an average of six years to check the Statin the participants were taking and to test for Parkinson’s signs or symptoms. The researchers considered variables like age, sex, and other vascular risks like smoking and diabetes.
It concluded:
- People who had been taking Statins had a 16 percent decreased risk of getting Parkinsonism six years later than those who had not been taking it, according to researchers.
- Approximately 79 percent of patients on Statin medication took moderate or high-intensity ones.
- Those who used higher-intensity Statins had a 7% lower risk of developing Parkinsonism than those who took lower-intensity Statins.
Statin could be a treatment option in the future to help lessen the symptoms of Parkinsonism in the general population of older adults according to the researchers. They also proposed a larger investigation.
Brain scans or vascular testing may be beneficial for older persons who have evidence of Parkinsonism but don’t have classic indicators of Parkinson’s disease or don’t react to Parkinson’s disease drugs, according to the study. Because the study’s Parkinsonism evaluations were not conducted by movement disorder specialists, it’s possible that cases of Parkinson’s disease were incorrectly labeled.
Parvathy Sukumaran 
