ISLAMABAD, JUNE 01 (ONLINE): Evidence from past epidemiological studies suggests that caffeine may protect against developing Parkinson’s disease in the future.A recent study investigates whether caffeine may help treat the condition.
The researchers conclude that caffeine does not improve symptoms in people who already have Parkinson’s disease.
However, the study found that consuming caffeine just before a brain scan may influence the results, which may eventually lead to changes in patient advice.
Multiple strands of evidenceTrusted Source suggest that people who consume higher levels of caffeine are less likely to develop Parkinson’s than people who do not drink coffee.Whether caffeine can help treat Parkinson’s is an open question. A recent study, which appears in the journal Annals of NeurologyTrusted Source, concludes that caffeine does not improve symptoms.
However, the scientists also identify that caffeine consumption in the hours before a brain scan may influence the reliability of the scan. This important finding may eventually help guide clinical practice.
A brief primer on Parkinson’s
Parkinson’s is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor symptoms, such as tremor.
Medical News Today spoke with Daniel Truong, MD, a neurologist and medical director of the Truong Neuroscience Institute at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA.
Truong, who was not involved in the study, is also editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Parkinsonism and Related Disorders. He explained how Parkinson’s develops.
“Alpha-synuclein is a protein that aggregates abnormally in Parkinson’s, forming so-called Lewy bodies. These aggregates can trigger an inflammatory response. The accumulation of alpha-synuclein,” he told us, “leads to the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which exacerbate neuronal damage.”
In particular, this buildup damages “dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra.” Neurons in this brain region help fine-tuneTrusted Source motor control, so, as they become damaged, it produces the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s.
Links between caffeine and Parkinson’s
A number of large-scale studiesTrusted Source in the early 2000s unearthed links between Parkinson’s and caffeine. Researchers showed that individuals who consumed the most caffeine had the lowest riskTrusted Source of developing Parkinson’s disease.
Multiple studies backed these findings up. Scientists found that individuals who drank more coffee — but not decaffeinated coffee — had a significantly lower riskTrusted Source of Parkinson’s.
Why caffeine protects against the development of Parkinson’s is an open question, but it may have something to do with adenosine, Truong told MNT:
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