Even as rheumatoid arthritis is associated with a lower risk of Parkinson’s Disease, a recent study has now established that the medications used for this autoimmune disease is not linked with this risk. 

A recent Finnish study funded by Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research found that the medications used to treat rheumatoid arthritis are not associated with a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. The researchers noted that traditionally, rheumatoid arthritis was associated with a lower Parkinson’s risk, but that arthritis therapies did not explain this association. The study, published in the journal Neurology, importantly found an exception in that the use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine was linked to a 26 percent lower relative risk of Parkinson’s. The researchers analysed a group of 1,571 adults with rheumatoid arthritis but not Parkinson’s, matched by age, sex, and regions of residence, to conclude that the use of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) or corticosteroids was not associated with a Parkinson’s risk.