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Can a cholesterol-lowering drug help to treat Parkinson's?

Amazingly, it seems to show some promise. Through a clinical trial as part of The Cure Parkinson's Trust's (CPT's)  Linked Clinical Trials Programme, the potential of the cholesterol-lowering drug, Simvastatin, was probed. It shows the ability to treat the "progressive neurological condition" afflicting about 10 to 20 million people around the world. This number is thought to double by 2030.

Being a "double-blinded placebo study", the experiment will involve 198 patients in 21 centers across the United Kingdom, including Plymouth. The Plymouth University researchers are searching for patients of Parkinson's who are not in the station.

The Cure Parkinson's Trust contacts Parkinson's experts globally every year, to check out a number of pre-selected compounds showing the potential to be brought to clinical trials. The compounds are thought to be safe and some are even used in other applications.

"It is encouraging to see new compounds that are already approved as being safe for use in the man being trialed for use in Parkinson's," said Camille Carroll, who will help conduct the trial, in a press release. "There have been few innovations in the treatment of Parkinson's for over 40 years and for the more than 127,000 people living with the condition in the U.K., the results of this trials programme could lead to new and highly effective treatments in the armoury of medications to tackle Parkinson's."

"We want to make a difference to those of us living with this condition within five years," added Tom Isaacs, co-founder of CPT. "The results of a recent trial in multiple sclerosis with simvastatin, and the pre-clinical work investigating its effect on alpha-synuclein clumping (which is a common feature of Parkinson's) indicate that it could be an effective treatment to slow down the progression of Parkinson's."