Smoking and caffeine intake cut Parkinson's risk

Smoking and caffeine intake are widely known for their bad effects on our health, but a new case study on Tuesday revealed that smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee may protect people from Parkinson's disease, enabling scientists to limit the number of unknown genetic and environmental factors influencing the development of the condition.

A team of researchers led by Dr. William Scott of the University of Miami School of medicine analyzed the effects of cigarettes and caffeine in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients and found that people who drink coffee or smoke are less likely to develop the disease.

To reach their conclusion, Professor Scott and colleagues examined the prevalence of PD, smoking, caffeine, and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, aspirin, and naproxen usage in 356 Parkinson's disease patients and 317 of their family members, without the disease.

Individuals with Parkinson's disease, averaging about 66 years of age, were half as likely to report ever smoking and a third as likely to report current smoking compared with unaffected relatives, averaging almost 64 years of age, the study authors found.

"Individuals with Parkinson's disease were .56 times as likely to report ever smoking and .30 times as likely to report current smoking compared with unaffected relatives," the authors write. "Increasing intensity of coffee drinking was inversely associated with Parkinson's disease. Increasing dosage and intensity of total caffeine consumption were also inversely associated, with high dosage presenting a significant inverse association with Parkinson's disease."

The study subjects with Parkinson's disease were also less likely to drink large amounts of coffee, the researchers found.

The study, published in the April issue of Archives of Neurology, found that although there was no link between NSAID use and Parkinson's disease, both smoking and caffeine intake were inversely related to PD.

"What this study tells us is there is something about cigarette smoking and consuming caffeine that alters the biology underpinning of Parkinson's disease," said Professor Scott.

The biological mechanisms through which smoking and caffeine might work in individuals at risk of Parkinson's disease are still ambiguous, said study co-investigator Mark A. Stacy, M.D., associate professor of medicine and director of the Duke Movement Disorders Center.

Use of tobacco and caffeine may modify fundamental genetic susceptibilities that exist in families with Parkinson's disease, but Stacy says more work is needed to see how this interaction ultimately plays out.

Though, some earlier researches have linked smoking and caffeine intake to a lower risk of Parkinson's disease, but this is the first time a study looked specifically at cigarette smoking and caffeine consumption within families affected by the disease, the authors of the recent study said.

However, the novel study showed significant results, but Dr. Scott said their work does not suggest people to drink coffee and smoke cigarettes.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that causes slowed movements, depression, cognitive disturbance, tremor (shaking), rigidity, and a wide variety of other symptoms. The disease is caused when brain cells called substantia nigra that produce dopamine, die off.

This is the progressive nervous disease, occurring most often after the age of 50. It affects an estimated 1 per cent of people older than 65. Symptoms start out with shaking and can progress to paralysis. There is no cure for Parkinson's disease, although a number of drugs can treat the symptoms of the disease only.

Exposure to pesticides and herbicide is strongly linked with disease risk.