Berries may protect against Parkinson’s

GREETINGS,

HERE ARE SOME FINDINGS  THAT MAY HELP SOME WHO ARE SUFFERING FROM THIS DISEASE.

For the study, Harvard Medical School researchers followed more than 49,000 men and 80,000 women, calculating the amounts of flavonoids they received through consuming tea, chocolate, berries, apples and oranges.

After 22 years of follow-up, Xiang Gao and his team found that people who consumed the highest amounts of flavonoids were 40 percent less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease.

Anthocyanins, a subset of flavonoids found in berries and other red/purplish fruits and vegetables were also associated with a lower risk of the illness in both genders. The team, however, found no association between consuming flavonoids and Parkinson’s in female participants.

Scientists believe the flavonoids’ role in neutralizing free radicals and preventing the damage they pose to cells is among possible mechanism behind the protective effect of these antioxidants against Parkinson’s disease.

“Although it’s too early to say that eating berries can reduce Parkinson’s disease risk, benefits of berries have been reported in several previous studies, for example, lowering risk of hypertension,” Gao said.

Experts stressed that the new study suggests an association, rather than a cause-and-effect relationship, between flavonoids and a lower risk of Parkinson’s, adding that more sophisticated studies are needed to evaluate this hypothesis.

“If our observations are confirmed, it suggests that anthocyanins, or berries, could be a potential neuroprotective agent against Parkinson’s disease risk,” Gao added. “So it is good, at least [doing] no harm, if we can have 2-3 cups of berries a week.”