(HealthDay News) — Users of terazosin, doxazosin, or alfuzosin are at lower risk for developing Parkinson disease (PD) compared with users of tamsulosin, according to a study published online in JAMA Neurology.

Jacob E. Simmering, PhD, from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and colleagues assessed whether use of terazosin, doxazosin, and alfuzosin is associated with a decreased risk for developing PD versus use of tamsulosin. The analysis included 52,365 propensity score-matched pairs of terazosin/doxazosin/alfuzosin users and tamsulosin users identified in Danish registries and 94,883 propensity score-matched pairs identified in the US Truven database.

Patients in the Danish cohort who used terazosin/doxazosin/alfuzosin had a lower risk for developing PD (hazard ratio [HR], 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81 to 0.98), as did patients in the Truven cohort (HR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.58 to 0.69). A dose-response association was detected, with greater risk reduction tied to longer use of terazosin/doxazosin/alfuzosin in the Danish cohort (short-term use: HR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.84 to 1.07; medium-term use: HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.77 to 1.01; long-term use: HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.66 to 0.95) and in the Truven cohort (short-term use: HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.64 to 0.76; medium-term use: HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.52 to 0.64; long-term use: HR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.57).

“Despite the relative differences in population and health care system structure, we found a similar protective effect in both countries,” Simmering said in a statement. “The replication of the finding in an international cohort is powerful evidence suggesting a causal effect.”

Reference

Certain Prostate Drugs Tied to Risk for Parkinson Disease

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