1st October 2014 - New research

HORMONES CAN INCREASE THE RISK OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE

ParkinsonismMovement Disorders [2014] Sep 25 [Epub ahead of print] (J.I.Lundin, T.G.Ton, A.Z. LaCroix, W.T.Longstreth, G.M.Franklin, P.D.Swanson, T.Smith-Weller, B.A.Racette, H. Checkoway) Complete abstract

Certain types of commonly used oral contraceptives have been found to greatly increase the risk of developing Parkinson's Disease. Oral contraceptives, which includes estrogen and progestin, are a class of drugs widely prescribed to women.  For more information go to Oral contraceptives

Oral contraceptive use by people with Parkinson's Disease were classified as conjugated estrogens, esterified estrogens, or progestin. Ever having used a hormone therapy formulation demonstrated a suggested elevated risk with esterified estrogen use that was three times the normal. However, there was no increase in the risk of developing Parkinson's Disease in those people who had taken conjugated estrogen. Restricting this analysis to prescriptions that included progestin greatly increased the risk associated with esterified estrogen use, making Parkinson's Disease SEVEN times more likely. Progestin also moderately increased the risk of developing Parkinson's Disease in those people who taken conjugated estrogen.

The findings from this study suggest a great increase in Parkinson's Disease risk associated with the use of esterified estrogen combined with progestin, but no risk is associated with conjugated estrogen on its own. For more news go to Parkinson's Disease News