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Parkinsons disease
Parkinson's disease
Also called: Paralysis agitans, Shaking palsy
Parkinson's disease is a disorder that affects nerve cells, or neurons, in a part of the brain that controls muscle movement. In Parkinson's, neurons that make a chemical called dopamine die or do not work properly. Dopamine normally sends signals that help coordinate your movements. No one knows what damages these cells. Symptoms of Parkinson's disease may include:
• Trembling of hands, arms, legs, jaw and face
• Stiffness of the arms, legs and trunk
• Slowness of movement
• Poor balance and coordination
As symptoms get worse, people with the disease may have trouble walking, talking or doing simple tasks. They may also have problems such as depression, sleep problems or trouble chewing, swallowing or speaking.
Parkinson's usually begins around age 60, but it can start earlier. It is more common in men than in women. There is no cure for Parkinson's disease with medicines although a variety of medicines sometimes help symptoms dramatically. With food supplements at least the same improvements can be established.
Coffee and tea consumption and the risk of Parkinson's disease.
Hu G, Bidel S, Jousilahti P, Antikainen R, Tuomilehto J.
Department of Health Promotion and Chronic Diseases Prevention, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland. hu.gang@ktl.fi Mov Disord. 2007 Nov 15;22(15):2242-8.
Several prospective studies have assessed the association between coffee consumption and Parkinson's disease (PD) risk, but the results are inconsistent. We examined the association of coffee and tea consumption with the risk of incident PD among 29,335 Finnish subjects aged 25 to 74 years without a history of PD at baseline. During a mean follow-up of 12.9 years, 102 men and 98 women developed an incident PD. The multivariate-adjusted (age, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, education, leisure-time physical activity, smoking, alcohol and tea consumption, and history of diabetes) hazard ratios (HRs) of PD associated with the amount of coffee consumed daily (0, 1-4, and > or = 5 cups) were 1.00, 0.55, and 0.41 (P for trend = 0.063) in men, 1.00, 0.50, and 0.39 (P for trend = 0.073) in women, and 1.00, 0.53, and 0.40 (P for trend = 0.005) in men and women combined (adjusted also for sex), respectively. In both sexes combined, the multivariate-adjusted HRs of PD for subjects drinking > or = 3 cups of tea daily compared with tea nondrinkers was 0.41 (95% CI 0.20-0.83). These results suggest that coffee drinking is associated with a lower risk of PD. More tea drinking is associated with a lower risk of PD.
(c) 2007 Movement Disorder Society.
Increased β-Carboline 9N-Methyltransferase Activity in the Frontal Cortex in Parkinson's Disease
Debra A. Gearharta, Michael A. Collinsb, John M. Leec and Edward J. Neafseyda Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia, 30912-2000 b Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Loyola University of Chicago Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois, 60153 c Departments of Pathology and Pharmacology, Loyola University of Chicago Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois, 60153 d Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Loyola University of Chicago Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois, 60153
Abstract
Enzymatic β-carboline N-methyltransferase activities generate N-methylated β-carbolinium cations that are analogs of the parkinsonian-producing neurotoxin MPP+. We measured β-carboline-2N-methyltransferase and β-carboline-9N-methyltransferase activities in the supernatant and particulate fractions from postmortem human brains. These N-methyltransferase activities were assessed in the substantia nigra, putamen, and frontal cortex from control and Parkinson's disease cases. No significant differences were measured in any brain region in particulate and supernatant fraction β-carboline 2N-methyltransferase activity or particulate fraction β-carboline 9N-methyltransferase activity. Likewise, supernatant fraction β-carboline 9N-methyltransferase activity was similar in the putamen and substantia nigra from Parkinson's disease and control cases. Unexpectedly, supernatant fraction β-carboline 9N-methyltransferase activity was increased fourfold in Parkinson's disease frontal cortex (P < 0.05), suggesting that β-carboline N-methylation may play a role in Parkinson's disease.
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