The consumption of more than three cups of coffee up to date has a direct impact on the brain of people with Parkinson’s, specifically in dopamine levels. That is the conclusion reached by a recent study by the University of Turku and the Turku University Hospital in Finland published in the journal Annals of Neurologywhich could open the door to future treatments against the disease.
Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the significant loss of blood-producing cells. dopamine in the substantia nigra of the brain. Previous studies had already suggested that consuming coffee could reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s thanks to the effects of caffeine on nigrostriatal dopamine receptors. “The relationship between high caffeine consumption and a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease has been observed in epidemiological studies,” said neurologist Valtteri Kaasinen, from the University of Turku. “However, our study is the first to focus on the effects of caffeine on progression of the disease and symptoms in relation to the role of dopamine in Parkinson’s disease.
The study recruited 163 early-stage Parkinson’s patients and 40 healthy controls, with a second assessment conducted on 44 participants with Parkinson’s, on average, six years later. Thus, a comparison was made between coffee consumption and a dopamine transport molecule in the brain. In follow-up evaluations, those who regularly consumed three or more cups a day (measured by self-reports and blood samples) showed between 8.3% and 15.4% less binding to the dopamine transporter compared to those who drank fewer than three cups. That is, what these results indicated was a lower production of dopamine.
Despite the association with a lower baseline risk of Parkinson’s, the team found no evidence that caffeine restored dopaminergic function in people with Parkinson’s or improved their symptoms. “While caffeine may offer certain benefits in reducing the risk of developing Parkinson’s, our study suggests that high caffeine consumption has no beneficial effect on dopamine systems in already diagnosed patients,” says Kaasinen. “A high caffeine intake did not improve the symptoms of the disease, such as motor function.”
Researchers believe that the dopamine downregulation observed in heavy coffee drinkers is a compensatory effect similar to what occurs in healthy brains, something also observed with other psychostimulant drugs. Additionally, consuming coffee near dopamine transporter imaging tests could affect the results, complicating the interpretation of these tests.
Although the study does not show very notable results regarding the benefits of coffee in patients with Parkinson’s, it provides important evidence on the relationship between dopamine and the disease, bringing us closer to a more complete understanding of how to combat the disease. “Our results they do not support the recommendation of a caffeine treatment or increased coffee consumption for patients newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” the researchers conclude.
According to the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN), it is estimated that at least 300,000 people suffer from Parkinson’s in Spain, with an increase of 272% since 2011, which represents a considerable increase in the number of people affected by this neurodegenerative disease. Every year around 10,000 new cases are identified in Spain, and it is estimated that a third of affected people have not yet been diagnosed.
Parkinson’s disease affects people of all ages, with 15% of cases corresponding to those under 50 years of age. Furthermore, it is highlighted that patients with Parkinson’s may take between 1 and 3 years to obtain a diagnosisand up to 25% of diagnosed patients may actually have another disease.
