Berries, tea and red wine seem to help protect men from developing Parkinson’s disease, British researchers revealed last night.
Men who consume a diet rich in plant chemicals enjoy a reduced risk as high as 40 per cent, according to the study of about 130,000 people.
But women get no benefit at all from the same diet when it comes to Parkinson’s, the researchers found.
Researchers sought to identify consumption of flavonoids, chemicals found in large quantities in red wine, tea, apples and other fruit.
And berries, which contain colouring chemicals called anthocyanins, gave even more protection – reducing risk by 25 per cent for those who consumed them compared with those who did not.
The findings, reported in the journal Neurology, encompassed the USA and the UK over 20 years. More than 800 people developed Parkinson’s during the research.
Researcher Professor Aedin Cassidy of Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, UK, said: "These exciting findings provide further confirmation that regular consumption of flavonoids can have potential health benefits.
“This is the first study in humans to look at the associations between the range of flavonoids in the diet and the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease and our findings suggest that a sub-class of flavonoids called anthocyanins may have neuroprotective effects."
Fellow researcher Dr Xiang Gao of Harvard School of Public Health, Massachusetts, USA, said: "Given the other potential health effects of berry fruits, such as lowering risk of hypertension as reported in our previous studies, it is good to regularly add these fruits to your diet.”
* A second study reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine last night warns that the standard dopamine treatment for the disease is "not enough" to tackle problems of fatigue, depression and hallucination suffered by people with the condition.
Researchers at Imperial College, London, UK, at Wallenberg Neuroscience Centre, Lund, Sweden, and at Philipps-University in Marburg, Germany, studied the fate of people given cell transplants in the brain more than ten years ago.
They found the patients were able to come off the dopamine medicine because their physical decline was halted – but they struggled with deteriorating mental health.
The study showed shortages of the chemical serotonin – which plays a key role in mental health – in the patients.
Habitual intake of dietary flavonoids and risk of Parkinson’s disease. X Gao, A Cassidy, M Schwarzschild, E Rimm, A Ascherio. Neurology April 4 2012
Serotonin Neuron Loss and Nonmotor Symptoms Continue in Parkinson’s Patients Treated with Dopamine Grafts. M. Politis; K. Wu; C. Loane; D.J.Brooks; P. Piccini; N.P. Quinn; W.H. Oertel; A. Björklund; O. Lindvall. Science Translational Medicine April 4 2012
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