Two cups of coffee a day could help relieve Parkinson’s symptoms

A recently published study involving more than 60 Parkinson’s sufferers revealed...

14:07 04 August 2012

A recently published study involving more than 60 Parkinson’s sufferers revealed that caffeine supplements can help improve the situations of patients suffering from the shakes that characterize the disease. 

 

The scientists who conducted the study claim that a couple of cups of coffee every day can help relieve the shakes. The study saw a five-point improvement in the symptoms of those who were given the supplements compared to those who were given placebos. 

 

Professor Ronald Postuma of McGill University in Montreal calls it a ‘modest improvement’ but said that it ‘may be enough to provide benefit to patients’. 

 

However, Professor Postuma was also quick to point out the limitations of the study: “On the other hand it may not be sufficient to explain the relationship between caffeine non-use and Parkinson’s since studies of the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms early in the disease suggest that a five-point reduction would delay diagnosis by only six months.”

 

A previous research, however, published three years ago showed that people who drank two to three cups of coffee per day on a regular basis had 25% less risk of developing Parkinson’s. The more recent study, however, is the first to examine the effects of coffee on those who already have the disease and mainly on the movement symptoms they experience. 

 

A similar study also suggested that coffee can also hinder the development of Alzheimer’s disease.