Diet and Parkinson's disease II

Abstract

In a case-control study, we compared the past dietary habits of 342 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients recruited from nine German clinics with those of 342 controls from the same neighborhood or region. Data were gathered with a structured interview and a self-administered food-frequency questionnaire. Nutrient intakes were calculated from the reported food intakes through linkage with the German Federal Food Code and analyzed using multivariate conditional logistic regression to control for total energy intake, educational status, and cigarette smoking. At the macronutrient level, patients reported higher carbohydrate intake than controls after adjustment for total energy intake, smoking, and educational status (OR = 2.74, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.30-6.07, for the highest versus lowest quartile, p trend = 0.02). This was reflected in higher monosaccharide and disaccharide intakes at the nutrient level. There was no difference between patients and controls in protein and fat intake after adjustment for energy intake. We found an inverse association between the intakes of beta-carotene (OR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.37-1.19, p trend = 0.06) and ascorbic acid (OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.33-1.09, p trend = 0.04) by patients, although only the trend for ascorbic acid intake reached statistical significance. There was no difference between groups for alpha-tocopherol intake after adjustment for energy intake. We also found that patients reported a significantly lower intake of niacin than controls (OR = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.07-0.33, p trend< 0.00005). Our results suggest that if antioxidants play a protective role in this disease, the amounts provided by diet alone are insufficient. Although the interpretation of the inverse association between niacin intake and PD is complicated by the high niacin content in coffee and alcoholic beverages, which were also inversely associated with PD in this study, the strength of this association and its biologic plausibility warrant further investigation.

Dietary intake of folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and riboflavin and risk of Parkinson's disease: a case–control study in Japan

“…A case -control study in Germany found that a higher intake of folate, vitamin B 6 and vitamin B 12 , but not of riboflavin, was associated with a lower risk of PD (5) . A prospective cohort study in the Netherlands showed that a higher intake of vitamin B 6 , but not of folate or vitamin B 12 , was associated with a decreasing risk of PD (6) .…”

Epidemiology and etiology of Parkinson’s disease: a review of the evidence

“…In a German casecontrol study, intake of folic acid equivalents was related to lower risk of PD (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.26-0.99 for highest quartile versus lowest), although the corresponding trend test was nonsignificant (p for trend 0.08) [486]. A US case-control study found no associations with folate or vitamin B6 intake [489].…”

“…Among case-control studies that assessed the role of macronutrients in PD (total energy intake, intake of fat, protein, and carbohydrates), two reported higher energy intake among cases than among controls [486,487] and two found no such association [488,489]. One case-control study reported lower risk with increasing glycemic index, but no associations for glycemic load or total intake of carbohydrates [490].…”

“…One study reported lower serum levels of vitamins E and A in PD cases than in controls [495], but most early casecontrol studies that examined serum levels of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, or vitamin A found no associations [496][497][498][499][500]. A German hospital-based case-control study [486] reported an inverse relationship between vitamin C intake and PD (p for trend 0.04; OR for highest quartile compared to lowest 0.60, 95% CI 0.33-1.09), but no association with vitamin E or beta-carotene intake. In three US case-control studies [487,489,501], no associations of PD with vitamin C, E, A (or carotenoid) intake were reported.…”

Current Understanding on the Beneficial Role of Nutrition in Parkinson’s Disease –An Overview

“…Epidemiological studies presented variable findings. Higher intake of vitamins B6, B9, and B12, but not B2, was associated with lower risk of PD in a German population [19]. Riboflavin supplementation with 8-hour intervals for 6 months gave rise to promising improvements in motor activity of patients.…”