Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination.
Symptoms usually begin gradually and worsen over time. As the disease progresses, people may have difficulty walking and talking.
Antiepileptic drugs are a type of drug that is used to prevent or treat seizures or convulsions by controlling abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Anticonvulsants are used to treat epilepsy and other seizure disorders.
In a study from the Queen Mary University of London, scientists found antiepileptic drugs are associated with incident Parkinson’s disease.
They examined the association between antiepileptic drugs and incident Parkinson’s disease using data from 1,433 individuals with a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis and 8,598 matched controls.
They used routinely collected prescription data derived from primary care to define exposure to antiepileptic drugs (carbamazepine, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, and sodium valproate).
The researchers found an association between antiepileptic drug prescriptions and incident Parkinson’s disease in a dose-response fashion.
They found a trend for a greater number of prescription issues and multiple antiepileptic drugs being associated with a greater risk for Parkinson’s disease.
This is the first study to examine a range of antiepileptic drugs and their association with incident Parkinson’s disease.
The study sets the scene and highlights the need for further work to corroborate other findings because these findings could have important implications for clinical decision-making.
The underlying reasons for an association between antiepileptic drugs and Parkinson’s disease should be further explored.
If you care about Parkinson’s disease, please read studies about Vitamin E that may help prevent Parkinson’s disease, and Vitamin D could benefit people with Parkinson’s disease.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about new way to treat Parkinson’s disease, and results showing flavonoid-rich foods could improve survival in Parkinson’s disease.
The study was conducted by Daniel Belete et al and published in JAMA Neurology.
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