RSS Feed
August 1st, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
COFFEE can give you the shakes, but caffeine seems to have the opposite effect in people with Parkinson’s disease, helping to relieve tremors and get them back on the move.
In the past, caffeine has been shown to reduce the risk of Parkinson’s, but its effects have never been tested in people who already have the disease.
Ronald Postuma of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and colleagues gave 61 people with Parkinson’s a 6-week course of pills containing the caffeine equivalent of about three cups of coffee every day, or a placebo.
Only people in the caffeine group showed a significant improvement in tests for motor problems, such as the severity of their tremors, and general mobility (Neurology, DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e318263570d).
Motor problems associated with Parkinson’s are caused by a lack of dopamine in areas of the brain where dopamine-producing cells are destroyed. Adenosine receptors normally inhibit the production of dopamine. Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors and so acts to boost available dopamine.
Drugs that target adenosine receptors are already in clinical trials but caffeine could provide a cheaper alternative.
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
Have your say
Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.
Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the “Report” link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
Posted in 
Tags: 
