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Loading...Caffeine: the New Treatment for Parkinson’s?
- Healthy Living Editors
- August 11, 2012
- 9:00 am
- 102 comments
We already know that drinking coffee and other caffeinated beverages can lessen a person’s overall risk for getting Parkinson’s disease, but what if a person already suffers from it?
A new study from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre in Canada, published in Neurology, suggests that caffeine can help control the tremors, movement difficulties, and motor dysfunctions that are typical of Parkinson’s sufferers. Medical News Today reports:
“This is one of the first studies to show the benefits of caffeine on motor impairment in people who have Parkinson’s disease,” stated Dr. Ronald Postuma, lead author of the study, a researcher in neurosciences at the RI MUHC, and Professor of Medicine in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University. “Research has already shown that people who drink coffee have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, but until now no study had looked at the immediate clinical implications of this finding.”
The study involved 61 people with Parkinson’s disease. The experimental group received a 100 mg dose of caffeine two times a day for the first three weeks, and then had their dosage upped to two 200 mg pills a day for another three weeks. The control group followed the same dosage schedule, but with placebo pills.
Dr. Postuma’s results showed that “the people who received caffeine supplements experienced an improvement in their motor symptoms (a five-point improvement on the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, a rating scale used to measure the severity of the disease) over those who received the placebo.”
While a larger-scale study is needed, this new data could indicate a new, semi-natural treatment option for the debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, offering relief to millions of people around the world.
Related:
Want to Live Longer? Drink Coffee
Coffee: Good and Green
Coffee and Cancer
Read more: Aging, Conditions, Diet & Nutrition, Drinks, Food, Health, Healthy Aging, caffeine, coffee, health effects of caffeine, health effects of coffee, movement, parkinson's, parkinson's disease, tremors
Healthy Living Editors
Healthy Living offers more than 10,000 ways for you to improve your life, your home, your community, and even the world. From the latest healthy and green news to simple DIY tips, our informative and inspirational content empowers you to make a difference.
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people are talking
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congratulations to all-thank you for sharing
By getting everyone to work together to pick up trash.
thanks for the info
Nice tips, thanks for sharing.
102 comments
+ add your ownUsing coffee (caffeine) as a possible natural "medicine" is far better than all the artificial medicaments....
Thank you :)
Sounds good, thanks for info!
Every little bit helps, thanks for the article...
How do I know the amount of caffeine in a 6oz glass of coffee? It would awesome if we have this information in these articles.
my mum has Parkinson's Disease for more than a decade..perhaps the little caffeine she takes in her diet does help. hard to tell definitely unless she has regular administered caffeine intake. she stopped her meds for Parkinson's about seven years ago when it clashes with her psychosis dementia/depression meds.
Wonder if it really helps. Hope so, thank you for sharing.
This sounds interesting and positive, thank you.
Not at all surprised by this, since it has also been shown to help Alzheimer's disease..
I have my morning coffee and enjoy it, thanks for this info!
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