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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 9:30 AM, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1998
Estrogen Reduces Severity of Early ParkinsonÃs Disease Women in the early stages of ParkinsonÃs disease may find some relief with estrogen replacement therapy.
According to a study released during the American Academy of NeurologyÃs 50th Anniversary Annual Meeting, April 25 - May 2, in Minneapolis, MN, estrogen reduces the severity of the disease in post-menopausal women with early ParkinsonÃs disease who have not taken levodopa, a common ParkinsonÃs treatment.
"We found that taking estrogen did not stop or reverse the disease. However, women who at some point had received hormone replacement therapy demonstrated less disease progression over time than those who had not taken estrogen," said study co-author Rachel J. Saunders-Pullman, MD, a neurologist at Beth Israel Medical Center and Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. "This was reflected in being better able to function within daily living activities, such as dressing and walking, as well as in formal neurologic measurements for stiffness and slowness of movements."
Researchers looked at post-menopausal women diagnosed with typical ParkinsonÃs disease less than five years prior to visiting the medical center who were not taking levodopa. Of 171 women, 42 had received hormone replacement therapy at some time and 129 had not. The women were measured for disease progression at initial and two-year visits. Length of estrogen use was not evaluated.
Saunders-Pullman cautions, "Previous studies show conflicting evidence of the effect of estrogen use on ParkinsonÃs severity. We cannot conclusively prove that ParkinsonÃs patients who take estrogen will do better long term because this study was limited to women in the early stages of the disease prior to taking levodopa. Further studies are needed to examine the effects of hormone replacement therapy when taking levodopa and to adjust for the duration of estrogen use. Because there were positive benefits in this early stage, patients should not avoid estrogen use, at least prior to taking levodopa."
ParkinsonÃs disease is a slowly progressive, neurodegenerative disease caused when a small group of brain cells that control body movement die. Symptoms generally include tremor in arms and legs, stiff and rigid muscles, slowness of movements and impaired balance. ParkinsonÃs affects more than 500,000 people in the United States.
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