Higher Coffee And Caffeine Intake May Be Linked With
Lower Incidence Of Parkinson Disease
CHICAGO, IL -- May 23, 2000 -- Higher coffee and caffeine intake is
associated with lower incidence of Parkinson disease, according to an
article
appearing in the May 24/31 issue of The Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA).
G. Webster Ross, M.D., from the Department of Veterans Affairs,
Honolulu,
and colleagues analyzed data from a 30-year follow-up study of 8,004
Japanese-American men (aged 45 - 68 years) enrolled in the prospective
longitudinal Honolulu Heart Program between 1965 and 1968 to explore the
association of coffee and caffeine consumption with the risk of
Parkinson
disease. The researchers believe that this is the first prospective
study
demonstrating a significant inverse association between coffee
consumption
measured during midlife and incidence of Parkinson disease with a
dose-response relationship.
"During the follow-up, 102 men were identified as having Parkinson
disease,"
the researchers write.
"Age-adjusted incidence of Parkinson disease declined consistently with
increased amounts of coffee intake, from 10.4 per 10,000 person-years in
men who drank no coffee to 1.9 per 10,000 person-years in men who drank
at least 28 ounces a day. Similar relationships were observed with total
caffeine intake and caffeine from noncoffee sources. Consumption of
increasing amounts of coffee was also associated with lower risk of
Parkinson disease in men who were never, past and current smokers at
baseline. Other nutrients in
coffee, including niacin, were unrelated to Parkinson disease incidence.
The
relationship between caffeine and Parkinson disease was unaltered by
intake of
milk and sugar."
The researchers found that for nondrinkers of coffee, after adjusting
for age
and cigarette smoking, the risk of Parkinson disease was two to three
times
greater than for the coffee drinkers. Based on data collected at the
time of
study enrollment, nondrinkers of coffee had a risk of Parkinson disease
more
than five times that of men who consumed 28 oz. of coffee or more per
day.
According to background information in the article, environmental
factors are
thought to be primarily responsible for the occurrence of Parkinson
disease;
however, rare genetic forms do exist. Treatments have not been
definitively
proven to prevent or slow the progression of Parkinson's disease.
Identification of risk factors could lead researchers to preventive
strategies.
Parkinson disease afflicts 3 percent of the population older than 65
years and
is a significant source of illness and health services use. Based on the
projected growth of the U.S. population, this percentage could double in
the
next 30 to 40 years.
Based on estimates of total or noncoffee caffeine and other nutrients
contained in coffee derived from information collected at study
inception, it
appears caffeine may be the constituent responsible for the observed
reduction in Parkinson disease, according to the authors.
"The observational nature of the study design prevents concluding that
coffee
or caffeine directly protect against development of Parkinson disease,"
the
authors caution. "However, prospective assessment of exposures and
unbiased case-finding methods are unique strengths that enhance the
importance of the findings. The possibility that caffeine has a
protective effect against Parkinson disease should be investigated
further with future
epidemiological, clinical and basic science research."
The authors speculate that it is possible that the men who had a lower
frequency of coffee consumption may have an intolerance to caffeine that
is
related to their constitutional propensity to develop Parkinson disease.
Alternatively, regular exposure to caffeine over many years might
counteract
the aging-related degenerative processes that cause loss of dopamine
neurons, the brain pathology associated with Parkinson disease.
(JAMA. 2000;283:2674-2679)
Related Link: The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
All contents Copyright © 2000 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights
reserved.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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