Caffeine seems to have a protective result against Parkinson’s disease. 8004 Japanese American men who age were 45 – 68 years were enrolled in Longitudinal Honolulu Heart Program study between 1965 and 1968 by amount of coffee intake and by total dietary caffeine intake.
The findings indicated that higher coffee and caffeine intake was associated with a significantly lower incidence of Parkinson’s disease. The data suggested that the mechanism was related to caffeine intake and not to other nutrients contained in coffee.
An inverse association of both coffee and caffeine consumption and Parkinson’s disease has been reported in many case control and cohort studies.
A 22 year prospective study of 6710 Finnish men and women, age 50-79 at the outset of the study reported that those consuming 10 or more cups of coffee per day had a relative risk of 0.26 of developing Parkinson’s disease relative to those who did not drink coffee (Eur J Clin Nutr 2007).
The interaction of caffeine with the adenosine receptors on regular basis seems to provide protection to the brain cells from neurodegenerative disease, promoting long term health of the central nervous system. This effect of coffee is most dramatic in the case of Parkinson’s disease.
Coffee consumption and Parkinson’s disease
