Coffee and Parkinson’s Disease

With its propensity to excite, caffeine in coffee might be thought to exacerbate the tremors of Parkinson’s disease. To the contrary, data have been accumulating since the late 1990s showing that heavy coffee drinkers may lower their risk of developing the disease.
A study of Japanese-American men (age 45-68 years) found a five-times higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease in those who drank less than 28 ounces of coffee per day compared to those who drank more than 28 ounces per day. The risk of the disease dropped 70% for those who consumed at least ten cups of coffee in an European study of over 6 000 men and women. As might be predicted, the protective role of coffee is a bit more complicated in women. Coffee is protective in women not undergoing hormone replacement therapy and in postmenopausal women undergoing hormone replacement therapy who consume low amounts of caffeine. Consumption of six or more cups of coffee in postmenopausal women receiving hormone treatment has been associated with a five-times greater risk of developing the disease.
The protective effect of caffeine is an example of the Doctrine of Signatures, or “Like Cures Like.” This Doctrine underlies homeopathic practice, except that, unlike homeopathy, the protective effect of caffeine has solid proof. According to the Doctrine, caffeine is effective for treating Parkinson’s disease because the tremors of the disease and the excitation caused by caffeine are similar. But this similarity is not the reason caffeine is protective. Caffeine probably helps to improve tremor and movement by stimulating dopamine release in the brain.

Coming Up On Monday: The Dangerous Seas