Coffee and Parkinson's disease

2/29/24, 5 mins reading

Is drinking coffee good for Parkinson’s disease patients?

A simple answer is Yes.

Multiple studies have shown that caffeine has a protective effect on Parkinson’s disease.

• A recent case-control study conducted in the Asian population has found that compared to coffee drinkers with LRRK2 wild type(one of the genes responsible for familial Parkinson’s disease), non-coffee drinkers with LRRK2 variants have a 4 to 8 times greater risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

• A meta-analysis of multiple studies has also found a linear relationship between reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease and caffeine consumption. Under a certain amount of caffeine consumption, the more caffeine taken, the less chance of developing Parkinson’s disease. This study also suggested that a maximum of 3 cups of coffee a day provides a protective effect on Parkinson’s disease.

• Besides, the protective effect of caffeine on Parkinson’s disease has also been studied in animal models. For example, one study has illustrated that both MPTP-induced dopaminergic neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration in mice can be mitigated by both acute and chronic treatments of Caffeine.

Mechanism

Caffeine is both water- and lipid-soluble. It can easily cross blood blood-brain barrier and enter the brain. In the brain caffeine acts as an adenosine receptor antagonist, decreasing neuroinflammation, modulating excitotoxicity and mitochondrial function, all of which would mitigate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Notes

A couple of findings worth noting here from studies:

• It is, not decaffeinated, caffeinated consumption that is associated with reducing the risk of Parkinson’s disease. therefore, the involvement here from the studies can not be applied to decaffeinated consumption as such.

• The inverse relationship between caffeine and Parkinson’s disease is consistent in men and postmenopausal women who never used hormone replacement therapy prior. The difference among women and postmenopausal women users of hormone replacement therapy remains unknown. This finding implies that caffeine may interact with estrogen in deciding the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

• Caffeine is able to contribute to reducing the risk of Parkinson’s disease however, caffeine isn’t a treatment and overconsumption of caffeine could lead to sleeping and mental issues.