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Prospective study of coffee consumption and risk of Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Objective:

To examine the prediction of coffee consumption on the incidence of Parkinson's disease.

Subjects and methods:

The study population comprised 6710 men and women, aged 50–79 years and free from Parkinson's disease at the baseline. At baseline, enquiries were made about coffee consumption in a self-administered questionnaire as the average number of cups per day. During a 22-year follow-up, 101 incident cases of Parkinson's disease occurred. Parkinson's disease cases were identified through a nationwide registry of patients receiving medication reimbursement, which is based on certificates from neurologist.

Results:

After adjustments for age, sex, marital status, education, community density, alcohol consumption, leisure-time physical activity, smoking, body mass index, hypertension and serum cholesterol, the relative risk for subjects drinking 10 or more cups of coffee per day compared with non-drinkers was 0.26 (95% confidence interval 0.07–0.99, P-value for trend=0.18). The association was stronger among overweight persons and among persons with lower serum cholesterol level (P-value for interaction=0.04 and 0.03, respectively).

Conclusions:

The results support the hypothesis that coffee consumption reduces the risk of Parkinson's disease, but protective effect of coffee may vary by exposure to other factors.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants NIH/NIEHS R01 ES012667.

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Correspondence to P Knekt.

Additional information

Contributors: KS participated in the study concept and design, performed data analysis and drafted the paper. PK designed the study concept, coordinated and supervised the conducting of the study, and was closely involved with the interpretation of the results and participated in drafting of the paper. HR maintained the database and advised in performing the data analysis. MAL supervised the use of statistical methods and participated in critical revision of the paper. AR participated in critical revision of the paper. SM designed the study concept and supervised the conducting of the study together with PK, was involved with the interpretation of the results and participated in drafting of the paper and in critical revision of the paper.

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Sääksjärvi, K., Knekt, P., Rissanen, H. et al. Prospective study of coffee consumption and risk of Parkinson's disease. Eur J Clin Nutr 62, 908–915 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602788

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