Caffeine, which is widely found in coffee, strong tea and soft drinks, may help control Parkinson’s disease movement disorders. The findings, led by the McGill University Health Centre Research Institute (RI MUHC), were recently published in Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study opens up the possibility of new treatment options for nearly 100,000 Canadians with Parkinson’s disease. “The finding that caffeine is beneficial in improving movement disorders in Parkinson’s disease patients is the first of its kind.” said study first author Ronald Postuma, PhD, currently a neuroscience fellow at MUHC, RI, and professor of medicine in neurology and neurosurgery at McGill University. “There have been studies showing that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease, but no studies to date have focused on the direct clinical impact of the finding.” Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive exercise stimulant in the world, acting on the central nervous system and cardiovascular system to temporarily reduce fatigue and increase energy. Parkinson’s disease is often accompanied by drowsiness, according to Dr. Postuma. “We sought to find out how caffeine affects drowsiness and how it affects the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, such as motor bradykinesia, myotonia, tremor, and balance disorders.” The researchers followed 61 people with Parkinson’s disease, some of whom took 100 mg of caffeine twice a day for the first 3 weeks, increasing to 200 mg twice a day for the second 3 weeks, while the rest took a placebo as a control group. “The improvement in motor symptoms was significantly better in the patients receiving the caffeine-assisted treatment than in the control group, (as shown by a scale used to assess the severity of Parkinson’s disease, with a 5-point improvement in the former standardized scale score),” Dr. Postuma said. “This was attributed to an increase in motor speed and a reduction in stiffness relief.” The effect of caffeine on drowsiness is unclear, and depression and nighttime sleep quality were not affected in participants in this study. The efficacy of caffeine-related improvements still needs to be confirmed in large clinical trials over a long period of time. “Caffeine should be investigated and developed as a treatment option for Parkinson’s disease. The drug could be used as an effective adjunct to medical therapy, thus helping to reduce patient use.” Dr. Postuma concluded.