Green Tea Protects Against Parkinson’s Disease
December 18, 2007
(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Green tea may have yet another health benefit – it may someday help treat Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers in China looked at the antioxidant effects of green tea polyphenols in rats. They found the polyphenols protect brain cells.
Parkinson’s disease results from the loss of brain cells that produce dopamine. The study finds green tea polyphenols protect dopamine neurons and higher doses protect even more. Results also show the protective effect blocks the ROS-NO pathway – a pathway which may contribute to cell death in Parkinson’s.
Researchers hope green tea polyphenols will eventually be developed into a safe drug that’s easy to give Parkinson’s patients.
The popularity of green tea has created a lot of interest in its health benefits. The editor of Biological Psychiatry, John H. Krystal, M.D., Yale University School of Medicine and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System agrees that “if green tea consumption can be shown to have meaningful neuroprotective actions in patients, this would be an extremely important advance.”
SOURCE: Biological Psychiatry, 2007;62:1353-1362
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