Suche
Mein Konto
Relation
Mischley LK, Lau RC, Bennett RD. The role of diet and supplements in the progression of Parkinson's disease.Oxide Med Cell Longev. 2017;2017:6405278.
Draft
This study was a cross-sectional analysis of an online platform created by the author (Laurie Mischley, ND, PhD). The platform enrolls Parkinson's patients in a longitudinal research study. Patients self-report their Parkinson's symptoms, their food diary, and their intake of nutritional supplements.
Participant
The study population included 1,053 individuals with idiopathic Parkinson's disease; 93% of participants were Caucasian, with an average of 5.2 years since diagnosis.
Study parameters assessed
Parkinson's disease symptoms, severity of progression, diet (post-recall), and supplement use; Symptoms were assessed using patient-reported scores on the Parkinson's Disease Scale (PRO-PD), an outcome tool created by the author.
Primary outcome measures
The analysis compared each patient's disease progression rate with their diet and supplement intake to look for statistically significant associations.
Key insights
The following results show which foods and supplements are significantly (P<0.05), which are associated with slower progression or faster progression of Parkinson's symptoms.
| DELAYED PROGRESS | FASTER PROGRESS |
| Fresh fruits and vegetables | Canned fruits and vegetables |
| Nuts and seeds | Diet and non-diet soda |
| Not fried fish | Fried foods |
| olive oil | beef |
| Wine | Ice cream |
| Coconut oil | yogurt |
| Fresh herbs and spices | Cheese |
| Coenzymes Q10 | iron |
| Fish oil |
Practice implications
Parkinson's disease is an extremely debilitating condition and is poorly understood.1Traditional options are limited, and studies suggest that many Parkinson's patients turn to diet, naturopathy and supplements to slow the disease's progression.2However, little is known about their effectiveness. The present study is an attempt to shed light on the effects of diet and supplement use on the progression of Parkinson's disease.
Many of the results of this study aren't all that surprising. Most foods associated with delayed progression are elements of a Mediterranean diet. This type of diet has anti-inflammatory effects and has been shown to be associated with fewer cases and later onset of Parkinson's disease.3Fish oil has been repeatedly shown to be neuroprotective4and indeed, this study found a link between fish consumption and delayed progression of Parkinson's symptoms.
Most foods associated with delayed progression are elements of a Mediterranean diet.
The connection between eating canned foods and faster progression of Parkinson's disease is intriguing. Because this association remained after adjusting for income, it is less likely to be related to limited access to health care (which is often associated with low income status). Could there be something in the cans themselves? The authors postulate that bisphenol A (BPA), or aluminum, a known neurotoxin,5could be subject to contributions.
The association of soda consumption with faster disease progression may be due to certain neurotoxins such as aspartame.6The association with fried foods may be related to lipid peroxidation. The association of ice cream, yogurt, and cheese with rapid progression is consistent with previous research; A meta-analysis of dairy intake and Parkinson's disease demonstrated a dose-dependent association between dairy intake and Parkinson's disease.7Both iron supplements and beef, which has a high iron load, were associated with rapid progression in this study, consistent with the notion that iron drives symptom progression due to its oxidative nature.8
While coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) showed early promise in Parkinson's disease, more recent randomized controlled trials have shown no benefit.9It is interesting that the association between delayed progression and coenzyme Q10 in this study was no longer statistically significant after income adjustment. The author postulates that CoQ10, an expensive dietary supplement, may be a surrogate for high income status, which itself was associated with delayed progression, perhaps due to better access to healthcare.
This study has some excellent strengths. The researchers adjusted all results for age, gender, years since diagnosis and income level, and the results give us our first clues about the effect of diet and supplements on Parkinson's disease. Of course, there are limitations to this study. As a cross-sectional analysis, conclusions from the study design are limited. This study is a longitudinal study and this publication is preliminary and not exhaustive. The researchers didn't correct that eitherPvalues for multiple comparisons, so it is possible that some statistically significant associations are spurious.
In summary, this study presents some interesting preliminary results regarding diet and supplements for Parkinson's disease. This is an important first step that will be followed by further work by the study authors and other researchers.