Millions of people across the world take statins to lower their cholesterol level and reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. Statin use, however, may not reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease, reveals a new study.

Previous research studies suggested that the use of statins also helped in lowering the risk of Parkinson's disease. However, a joint study conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Science and Penn State College of Medicine showed that statins may not actually protect a person from Parkinson's disease.

Xuemei Huang, a professor of neurology at the Penn State College of Medicine, who is also the vice chair of the research, cited the findings of prior studies and suggested that low levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol, are linked with reduced risk of Parkinson's disease. However, previous studies did not take into consideration the cholesterol level of patients prior to statin use.

The researchers took into account the level of blood cholesterol, Parkinson's disease status and medication taken by the patients from an ongoing and long-term Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study.

Levels of cholesterol were noted every three years after 1987 to 1989, right before statin started to be used widely.

The researchers observed that levels of total cholesterol and bad cholesterol were linked to Parkinson's disease. However, statin use did not reduce Parkinson's disease, but instead increased the risk for the ailment in the long term.

Even though the analysis was based on a small number of Parkinson's disease cases, the researchers claimed, the preliminary findings contradict that statins provide a protection against Parkinson's disease. Statin may be beneficial for the heart, but it does not benefit the brain.

"One possibility is that statin use can be a marker of people who have high cholesterol, which itself may be associated with lower PD risk. This could explain why some studies have found an association between use of these medications and low incidence of PD. Most importantly, this purported benefit may not be seen over time," said Huang.

More than 1 million Americans suffer from Parkinson's disease and it also affects between 4 million and 6 million people across the globe. The actual cause of the disease is unknown and it does not have a cure. However, medicines are given to patients to control the symptoms of the disease.

The findings of the latest study was published in the journal Movement Disorders.