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Estrogen blocks caffeine's anti-Parkinson's effect
Last Updated: 2004-11-16 15:13:42 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In women who've passed menopause, use of estrogen replacement determines whether drinking caffeine protects against Parkinson's disease or not, new research indicates.
Numerous studies, including one by the current research team, have shown an
association between caffeine intake and a decreased risk of Parkinson's
disease. However, this apparent benefit of caffeine was diminished or absent
in women.
The gender difference might be explained by estrogen, and this prompted Dr.
Alberto Ascherio, from the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues
to analyze data from subjects who participated in the Cancer Prevention
Study II, which began in 1982 and included more than 1 million participants.
"During follow-up, 60,631 men and 37,486 women died from any cause," the
researchers report in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Of these
subjects, 909 men and 340 women had Parkinson's disease listed as the cause
of death.
Consistent with previous reports, the overall analysis showed that the risk
of death due to Parkinson's fell as coffee intake increased in men, but not
in women. However, on further analysis, women who had never used estrogen
replacement therapy did seem to experience the anti-Parkinson's benefits of
caffeine.
Among women who never used estrogen, drinking 4 or more cups of coffee per
day reduced the risk of dying from Parkinson's disease by 53 percent
compared with never drinking coffee. On the other hand, coffee intake made
no difference among women who used estrogen.
This report "suggests that it may be important to investigate the mechanisms
of a possible interaction between estrogen and caffeine in the (cause) of
Parkinson's disease," the authors conclude.
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, November 15, 2004.
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