About Careers MedBlog Contact us
Medindia LOGIN REGISTER
Advertisement

Parkinson's Drugs may be Safe for the Heart

by Kalyani Thivakaran on December 5, 2014 at 11:27 PM
Font : A-A+

 Parkinson's Drugs may be Safe for the Heart

Preliminary research, presented at EuroEcho-Imaging 2014 by Dr Hilal Erken Pamukcu, cardiologist at Ankara Diskapi Education and Research Hospital in Turkey, shows that Non-ergot derived dopamine agonists used to treat Parkinson's disease may be safe for the heart.

EuroEcho-Imaging is the annual meeting of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and is held 3-6 December in Vienna, Austria.

Advertisement

Dr Erken Pamukcu said: "Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder that occurs in nearly 1% of the world's population over 60 years of age and in 4% of people over 80 years of age. Various drug treatments are available. Ergot derived dopamine agonists were often used in the past but today their usage is not preferred by most neurologists worldwide because they caused fibrotic heart valve disease and fibrosis in other tissues."

She continued: "Today, non-ergot derived dopamine agonists are widely used in daily clinical practice but recent studies have suggested that the non-ergot derived dopamine agonist pramipexole increases the risk of heart failure. In September 2012 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) informed the public about a possible increased risk of heart failure with pramipexole but the studies were inconclusive and the review is ongoing."1
Advertisement

The current study was designed to investigate whether the use of pramipexole and ropinirole, both non-ergot derived dopamine agonists, was associated with heart failure. Heart failure was deemed to occur if patients had asymptomatic myocardial dysfunction and deterioration of myocardial systolic function. These were assessed by examining left ventricular function using two-dimensional strain echocardiography.

The same measurements were made in patients taking levodopa, a drug commonly used in Parkinson's disease that does not have any adverse cardiac effects. Dr Erken Pamukcu explained: "We could not create a control group of Parkinson's disease patients who were not taking any drugs because most of these patients take one or more drugs. We therefore used patients taking only levodopa as a control group."

The study included 55 patients with Parkinson's disease, of which 24 were taking levodopa alone, 18 were using levodopa and pramipexole and 13 were using levodopa and ropinirole. The mean age of the study population was 63 years. There were no significant differences between groups in age, sex or presence of hypertension.

The researchers did not find any significant differences between groups in the global and segmental longitudinal strain length and strain rate values.

Dr Erken Pamukcu said: "Our measurements of left ventricular function produced similar values in all three treatment groups. We did not detect any evidence of asymptomatic myocardial dysfunction or deterioration of systolic function in patients taking pramipexole or ropinirole."

She continued: "As we did not show any statistically significant myocardial dysfunction in the groups taking pramipexole or ropinirole, our study suggests that these drugs do not cause heart damage. Our conclusion from this small, preliminary study is that non-ergot derived dopamine agonists are safe for the heart."

Dr Erken Pamukcu concluded: "We believe this is the first study to assess left ventricular function using two-dimensional strain echocardiography in Parkinson's disease patients taking non-ergot dopamine agonists. This may be a new approach to study the cardiac effects of these drugs. Larger studies are needed to confirm our results."



Source: Eurekalert
Advertisement

Advertisement
Advertisement

Recommended Reading

Latest Heart Disease News

Is Chronic Kidney Disease Linked to Cardiovascular Disease?
Researchers uncovered an association between heart disease and chronic kidney disease.
 Oral Infection Signs May Predict Heart Disease Risk
How to predict heart disease risk? Machine learning algorithms using indicators of oral infections may accurately predict the possibility of heart disease.
Reproductive Factors Linked to Heart Disease Risk
A higher risk for earlier first birth is limited by acting on traditional heart disease risk factors, such as BMI, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Can Radiation Increase Heart Disease Risk?
A new study strengthens evidence linking low dose radiation to risk of heart diseases.
Can Irregular Heart Rhythm Increase Dementia Risk?
People with an irregular heart rhythm (atrial fibrillation or AFib) are at a higher risk of developing dementia.
View All
This site uses cookies to deliver our services.By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy, and our Terms of Use  Ok, Got it. Close
×

Parkinson's Drugs may be Safe for the Heart Personalised Printable Document (PDF)

Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested

You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends.

Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice.

Name *

Email Address *

Country *

Areas of Interests