Blood pressure drug drops Parkinson's risk

BASEL, Switzerland, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Patients taking calcium channel blockers to treat high blood pressure also appear to be cutting their risk of Parkinson's disease, a Swiss study found.

Half of the study's 7,374 men and women -- over age 40 -- had Parkinson's disease, the the other half did not.

Study author Christoph R. Meier of the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland said that among both groups, nearly half used high blood pressure medications, such as calcium channel blockers, ACE inhibitors, AT II antagonists and beta blockers.

The study, published in the journal Neurology, found people who were currently long-term users of calcium channel blockers for high blood pressure lowered their risk of Parkinson's disease by 23 percent compared to people who didn't take the drugs. No similar effect was found among people taking ACE inhibitors, AT II antagonists and beta blockers.

"Long-term use of calcium channel blockers was associated with a reduced risk of developing Parkinson's disease while no such association was seen for other high blood pressure medicines," Meier said in a statement.