Warning: Statins should not be used to combat Parkinson's disease

Many previous studies have shown that statins are used to treat high cholesterol, and may protect against Parkinson's disease. But recent findings warn of this habit.

Researchers at Penn State University point out that using statins may speed up the onset of symptoms of Parkinson's disease instead of preventing them.

Many previous studies have shown that statins, used to treat high cholesterol, can protect against Parkinson's disease. Behind it are small studies that show statins do not reduce Parkinson's disease or decrease at very low rates.

Xuemei Huang, a professor of neurology at Penn State Medical University, said: " One of the reasons for explaining inconsistent results is high cholesterol, the main indication is statin use, yes. related to the lower occurrence of Parkinson's disease ". This combination treatment is difficult to know the true effect of statins with Parkinson's disease.

So, to reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed medical data of 50 million people and identified 22,000 people with Parkinson's disease and narrowed the focus to 2,322 new patients who are thought to be suffering from Parkinson's disease. .

Subsequently, the patients were assigned as comparison groups, given statins and monitored symptoms before and after drinking.

"Using statins is associated with a higher risk of Parkinson's disease, and this association is more noticeable for lipid-absorbing statins, an observation that is inconsistent with the current hypothesis," Huang said . These statins can protect nerve cells, and people who take statins for less than two and a half years may increase the conditions for the onset of Parkinson's symptoms.

'Our new data also offers another suggestion,' said Huang. 'The use of statins can lead to symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease, so patients should stop taking statins immediately. We do not believe that statins can fight Parkinson's disease which may increase the onset of symptoms of the disease '.

This study has just been published in the Journal of Motor Disorders.