The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7488 p145
9 February 2008

This article
Reprint   Photocopy

  Acrobat Reader

News summary

Calcium channel blockers link to lower Parkinson’s risk

Long-term use of calcium channel blockers has been shown to correlate with a reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease (Neurology, 6 February 2008).

Investigators used the UK General Practice Research Database to identify 3,637 cases of Parkinson’s disease and the same number of matched controls. After adjustment for body mass index, smoking, various cardiovascular, metabolic and psychiatric diseases, and dementia, the odds ratio for Parkinson’s disease with receipt of 30 or more calcium channel blocker prescriptions was 0.77 (95 per cent confidence interval 0.63–0.95), compared with no use of antihypertensive drugs.

Notably, they found no similar association for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta-blockers or angiotensin II-receptor antagonists.