YERBA MATE REDUCES LIKELIHOOD OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE

14th July 2015 - New research

Yerba Mate has been found to reduce the likelihood of Parkinson's Disease by more than a third. Yerba Mate is a very common beverage in some countries of South America. It is a herb, that is dried and chopped, before pouring hot water over it to make a drink. For more information go to : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate

A study of hospital records was conducted in order to investigate the association between Parkinson's Disease and yerba mate intake. Coffee and tea intake were also assessed. The likelihood of Parkinson's Disease was reduced to 63% for those drinking yerba mate, which was down to 60% for those drinking tea, and was only 51% for those drinking coffeee. Yerba mate contains three xanthines : caffeine, theobromine and theophylline, the main one being caffeine, which is primarily how it has its stimulatory effect. Tea contains more caffeine than yerba mate. Coffee contains more caffeine than tea. Caffeine occurs to a lesser extent in cola drinks, cocoa, and chocolate.

Although the researchers detail the reduced likelihood of Parkinson's Disease because of drinking yerba mate, the reduced likelihood of Parkinson's Disease is even greater when drinking tea, and even more so when drinking coffee. The effect appears to be directly related to the caffeine intake. Caffeine is a naturally occurring adenosine antagonist. The Adenosine antagonist drugs Tozadenant, Preladenant, and Istradefylline are presently being assessed for their use in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease.

Reference : Journal of Neurological Science [2015] Jun 24 [Epub ahead of print] (E.M.Gatto, C.Melcon, V.L.Parisi, L.Bartoloni, C.D.Gonzalez)

Complete abstract : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26148934

http://www.viartis.net/parkinsons.disease/news/150714.pdf mail@viartis.net

©2015 Viartis