Pills for blood pressure could ease tremors for hundreds of thousands of Parkinson's sufferers, study finds By MEIKE LEONARD Published: 01:39, 29 December 2024 | Updated: 02:01, 29 December 2024 e-mail View comments A common medication for high blood pressure could help hundreds of thousands suffering with tremor caused by Parkinson's disease, a study has found. Standard Parkinson's treatment does not always prevent tremors, which plague up to 90 per cent of those with the neurodegenerative disease. The symptom, which sees the hands, jaw and legs shake uncontrollably, is not usually disabling but affects day-to-day activities such as shaving, dressing and writing.
Tremors can often get worse in stressful situations, but levodopa, the standard medication to treat the condition, tends to be less effective at these times, failing to cut tremors in 40 per cent of patients. Instead, researchers at Radboud University in Holland gave Parkinson's patients propranolol, a beta blocker that inhibits stress hormones, and used MRI scans to map their brain activity. For all 27 patients who were on the trial, propranolol reduced tremors in both restful and stressful periods.
'We know that abnormalities in systems like the dopamine system cause tremors,' said Dr Rick Helmich, a neurology professor at Radboud. 'Based on our study, we think the stress hormone noradrenaline acts as an amplifier, which increases tremor intensity in the brain's movement area. A medication commonly used to treat h.
