There’s good news for people with Parkinson’s or a history of Parkinson’s in their family: drinking coffee might help protect the brain against the disease.
How coffee might provide hope
Although previous research has found that the caffeine in coffee might play a role in protecting against neurodegeneration, other studies have found that decaffeinated coffee might also help fight Parkinson’s.
To determine if coffee has another benefit besides the caffeine, researchers focused on one of its compounds, EHT.
Short for eicosanoyl-5-hydroxytrptadmide, EHT is an anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective fatty acid of serotonin that hails from the way coating in the beans.
Researchers gave mic either caffeine, EHT or both and then looked to see if any of the mice had the ability to decrease the accumulation of alpha-synuclein which is associated with Parkinson’s.
The team discovered that although neither caffeine or EHT alone helped, the combination of the two significantly reduced the buildup of the protein. In fact, the mice that received the combination of the EHT and caffeine did better on tests of behavior.
More work to be done
The researchers aren’t suggesting that people with Parkinson’s (or a history of the disease in their family) gulp down copious amounts of coffee. There are a lot of factors to weigh, including where the bean was grown, how it was harvested and the way it which it was roasted and brewed. They admit that more research needs to be done.
“EHT is a compound found in various types of coffee, but the amount varies,” explains lead author M. Maral Mouradian of the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Institute for Neurological Therapeutics. “It is important that the appropriate amount of ratio be determined so people don’t over-caffeinate themselves, as that can have negative health consequences.”
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
