How Do Statins Affect Parkinson Disease Risk?

Statin use increases patients’ risk of Parkinson disease (PD), according to a recent analysis.

Previous research has indicated that higher cholesterol is related to lower incidence of PD. And because statins lower cholesterol and are commonly prescribed, the researchers aimed to better understand the connection.
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In this retrospective case-control analysis, the researchers evaluated the MarketScan medical insurance claim data of 50 million people and identified 22,000 patients with PD. Of these patients, 2322 cases were newly diagnosed and had a minimum of 2.5 years of continuous enrollment prior to earliest diagnosis code or prescription of anti-Parkinson medication.

Patients were then matched by age, gender, and follow-up window to investigate the association between statin use and incident BP.

Results showed that statin use was significantly linked to risk of PD. The researchers noted that lipophilic statins, statins plus non-statins, and the 2.5-year period after initiating statins were all most strongly associated with PD risk.

“The use of statin (especially lipophilics) was associated with higher risk of PD, and the stronger association in initial use suggests a facilitating effect,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Liu G, Sterling NW, Kong L, et al. Statins may facilitate Parkinson’s disease: insight gained from a large, national claims database. Movement Disord. 2017;32(6):913-917. doi:10.1002/mds.27006.