Dr. G. Webster Ross and colleagues from the Department of Veterans Affairs in Honolulu questioned 8,004 Japanese-American men, ages 45 to 68, on coffee consumption habits, a study group in which 102 participants would later develop Parkinson’s disease. Study results show the more coffee the men drank, the lower their incidence of Parkinson’s disease. Men who didn’t consume coffee were five times more likely to develop the disease than men who drank four to five 6-ounce cups a day. And non-drinkers were two to three times more likely to develop Parkinson’s than men who only drank 4 ounces to four cups per day. Researchers did not notice any impact of the intake of milk and sugar with coffee. The team suggests that regular caffeine exposure may counteract the age-related degenerative process in the brain that leads to loss of the brain chemical dopamine, a key factor in Parkinson’s. Researchers do clarify that they do not suggest that, as a general population, coffee drinkers have a guaranteed protection against Parkinson’s disease.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: J Amer Medical Association, May 24/31, 2000
