--- description: Two forms of diabetes medication may reduce risk of developing Parkinson's Disease, according to a new study. title: Diabetes Drugs May Offer Hope for Parkinson's Disease Treatment image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ddd32b7efbf3585/69885bec5f570f408ab1c8c1/actos-glitazone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Neuroscience](/tag/neuroscience/) ## Neuroscience Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Diabetes Drugs May Offer Hope for Parkinson's Disease Treatment  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jul 22, 2015 4:11 PM CUT  Levin/Papantonio  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jul 22, 2015 4:11 PM CUT Two forms of diabetes medication may reduce risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, according to a new [study](http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001854 "undefined"). Researchers analyzed data on more than 160,000 diabetes patients in the U.K. and found that patients who took rosiglitazone or pioglitazone had a 28% lower chance of developing Parkinson’s than their counterparts who took other diabetes medication, according to the study, published in the journal _PLOS Medicine_. The drugs were originally developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Takeda, respectively, but they are now off patent. The research does not suggest that people with Parkinson’s take the diabetes drugs directly. Rather, the findings offer hope for future Parkinson’s research. “We often hear about negative side effects associated with medications, but sometimes there can also be unintended beneficial effects,” senior researcher Ian Douglas from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine [told](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/21/health-parkinsons-idUSL5N1011WJ20150721 "undefined") Reuters. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3967611/diabetes-parkinsons-disease/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3967611/diabetes-parkinsons-disease/"},"headline":"Diabetes Drugs May Offer Hope for Parkinson's Disease Treatment","datePublished":"2015-07-22T16:11:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:28:28.727Z","description":"Diabetes patients who took these medications had a 28% lower chance of developing Parkinson's","url":"https://time.com/3967611/diabetes-parkinsons-disease/","keywords":["Neuroscience"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ddd32b7efbf3585/69885bec5f570f408ab1c8c1/actos-glitazone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6ddd32b7efbf3585/69885bec5f570f408ab1c8c1/actos-glitazone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"actos glitazone","caption":"actos glitazone","creditText":"Levin/Papantonio","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/neuroscience/","name":"Neuroscience"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3967611/diabetes-parkinsons-disease/","name":"Diabetes Drugs May Offer Hope for Parkinson's Disease Treatment"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Island That Holds the Secret to Long Life","description":"Here's how the people of Ikaria, Greece reach old age","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/orlnwhNb/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-05-23T20:32:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/orlnwhNb.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3967611/diabetes-parkinsons-disease/","duration":"PT7M8S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3967611/diabetes-parkinsons-disease/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```