Study: Caffeine may protect brain from Parkinson's

From staff and wire reports

May 23, 2000
Web posted at: 5:32 p.m. EDT (2132 GMT)

ATLANTA (CNN) -- New research in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association suggests drinking caffeine may help prevent Parkinson's disease.

Researchers studied more than 8,000 Japanese-American men over a period of 30 years, and found that those who drank more than three cups of coffee a day had five times less chance of developing the disease.

Parkinson's is a degenerative disorder that destroys the cells in the brain that make the chemical dopamine. It damages the central nervous system, causing tremors and erratic body movements. Some patients also develop dementia.

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About 1 million Americans have Parkinson's. Attorney General Janet Reno, actor Michael J. Fox and boxer Muhammad Ali are among those affected.

Although not scientifically proven, one conclusion of the study is that the caffeine in coffee may have a protective effect on the brain.

"There are transmitters like glutamate which act on receptors in the brain and can actually kill other neurons under some circumstances. So if you could reduce the release of those transmitters, you can protect the brain. It's conceivable caffeine is doing that," said neurologist Tim Greenamyre.

Doctors don't know exactly why some people develop Parkinson's. Neurologist G. Webster Ross, who led the study, said it's possible that heavy coffee drinkers have a brain composition that may make them resistant to the disease.

Other researchers suggested it might be a combination of genetics and susceptibility to toxins in the environment. Greenamyre said people who metabolize caffeine well may also more easily metabolize the environmental toxins thought to contribute to Parkinson's disease.

"If we are all exposed to the same environmental toxins, people who metabolize them fast are going to have less incidence of the disease," he said.

Although Ross' study took into account other factors that could explain the different incidence of Parkinson's -- like cigarette smoking -- he said it is too early to recommend caffeine as a treatment.

"Hopefully, this will lead to more basic research on caffeine and its effect on areas of the brain affected by Parkinson's," he said.

Other researchers agreed that if the findings hold up, they could lead to better treatments for Parkinson's disease, or even ways to prevent its onset.

CNN Medical Correspondent Holly Firfer and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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PDF - Parkinson's Disease Foundation, Inc.
National Parkinson Foundation, Inc.
Parkinson's Disease - Home Page
Parkinson's Disease: Hope Through Research

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