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Hello Maryse and all, Thanks to the Judith post we now may say let us drink more coffee..... ;-)) Judith Richards wrote: > Parkinson's May Affect Nerves Outside Brain > By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent > > http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000904/sc/health_parkinsons_dc_1.html > > WASHINGTON, September 4, 2000 (Reuters) - Parkinson's disease, caused by > the loss of certain brain cells, may affect nerves throughout other > organs of the body, researchers said on Monday. > > The discovery may affect the way the disease is treated and eventually > lead to understanding what causes it, Dr. David Goldstein of the > National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS) said.The > discovery might open ways to find the underlying cause of > Parkinson's, and might explain the unusual finding that heavy coffee > drinkers seem to have a lower rate of Parkinson's, Goldstein said. > > Norepinephrine and dopamine are both part of the same family of > chemicals, called catecholamines -- as is a component of coffee called > caffeic acid. > > All three compounds -- dopamine, norepinephrine and caffeic acid -- are > broken down in the body by an enzyme called COMT. > > "Suppose somebody drank a lot of coffee. That person is taking in a lot > of caffeic acid," Goldstein said, stressing that this theory is > completely unsupported by any scientific studies. > > "This cathecholamine could compete for COMT with ... dopamine and > norepinephrine." > > That would mean that, instead of getting rid of norepinephrine and > dopamine, COMT could be tied up with the caffeic acid. This would make > more of the two neurotransmitters available in the body and might > explain why coffee could protect against Parkinson's, Goldstein said. Cheers, Joao Paulo - Salvador,BA,Brazil [log in to unmask]