Association of antihypertensives and Parkinson’s disease in a primary care population matched for underlying diagnosis

Purpose To examine the association of several antihypertensive medication classes with incidence of Parkinson’s disease (PD), taking into account possible underlying conditions. Methods In a case-control study based on a large primary care database and including 21,981 PD cases and 21,981 non-PD controls matched for age, sex, and possible treatment indications associations with different antihypertensive medication groups, including diuretics, betablockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin-II receptor-blockers and PD were examined. Results Antihypertensive medications overall were associated with a lower risk of subsequent diagnosis of PD (OR: 0.94, 95% CI 0.90–0.97), with the negative association most significant for medications acting on the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system. A positive association with diagnosis of PD was only seen for betablockers and restricted to those with relatively young age and not in those with longer treatment duration. Conclusion When taking into account underlying diagnoses, antihypertensive medications overall were associated with a reduced incidence of PD.