Research Suggests Coffee May Help Reduce Parkinson's Disease Risk

The study, published online in the April issue of the journal Neurology, included 1,84,024 people aged 35-70 years, who were followed up for a median duration of 13.1 years.

The findings showed that the highest coffee consumers had a 37 percent reduced risk of getting Parkinson’s disease, compared to those who do not drink.

"This study demonstrates that the neuroprotection of coffee on Parkinson's disease is attributed to caffeine and its metabolites by detailed quantification of plasma caffeine and its metabolites years before diagnosis," said the researchers from Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Further, drinking caffeinated coffee lowered risk of the neurodegenerative disease by 43 percent. The team, however, found no association with decaffeinated coffee.

"Good news for coffee lovers. Caffeinated coffee consumption over a long term has the potential to lower the risk of Parkinson's disease," Dr Sudhir Kumar, a neurologist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad, wrote on X.

"Neuroprotective effect leading to lower risk of Parkinson’s Disease was attributed to caffeine and metabolites such as theophylline and paraxanthine," he explained.