Foods Containing Nicotine Can Reduce Parkinson’s Risk

Foods Containing Nicotine Can Reduce Parkinson's Risk

A recent study provides some insight into how foods that contain nicotine, like tomatoes or peppers, can have an impact on Parkinson’s disease stats.

Parkinson is a degenerative disease that affects the brain and can cause a number of problems with its motor system. The cause of the disease is the loss of brain cells that have the ability to produce neurotransmitter dopamine.

Some of the most common symptoms of the disease are shaking while at rest stiffness and balance problems.

It was widely believed the smoking tobacco based products helped prevent the disease thanks to the nicotine content but no clear data was available to clearly prove that no other factors were responsible for the preventive effect.

The study was conducted on 490 patients from the neurology clinic at the University of Washington and 644 individuals who didn't suffer from the disease or other neurological disturbances.

All the subjects were asked about their diets and their smoking habits. The researchers found that while eating vegetables in general didn't have any effect; consuming vegetables from the solanaceae family can reduce the risk of contracting the disease by 19 percent.

The study is particularly important as it analyzes the effect that nutrition has on Parkinson’s disease offering concrete data that was simply unavailable until now.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday May 12 2013, 6:54 AM EST. Ref: CBS. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0