Can you reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease?
Regular physical activity is the best lifestyle choice for reducing your risk of Parkinson's disease: more exercise is associated with a measurably lower risk. In addition, avoid pesticides and eat a varied diet; smoking and alcohol offer no acceptable way out.
Physical activity is by far the best-supported way to lower your risk. People who exercise more develop Parkinson's disease on average 23% less often than people who are barely active. And there is a clear dose-response pattern: each additional amount of activity lowers the risk a little further. This holds for both men and women. People who exercise intensively showed an additional risk reduction of 16% on top of moderate activity, according to a large British study with more than 500,000 participants. Spending less time sitting also played a role: people who sat for relatively little time had an 11% lower chance of developing Parkinson's disease than people who sat for almost the entire day.
Coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk in several large studies, approximately 12% at small amounts. Whether caffeine is the cause is still being investigated. A Mediterranean diet, rich in vegetables, fruit, olive oil and fish and low in red meat, is also linked to a lower risk of Parkinson's disease, but the evidence for this is still limited. Good sleep fits into the same picture: people with better sleep quality developed Parkinson's disease less often, although poor sleep may also be an early sign of Parkinson's disease rather than a cause.
Exposure to pesticides and the industrial solvent trichloroethylene increases the risk of Parkinson's disease. This is one of the best-supported environmental risk factors. People who work with pesticides professionally would do well to take the safety guidelines seriously.
Smoking is associated with a lower risk of Parkinson's disease in several large studies, but this absolutely does not mean that smoking is protective in practice. Smoking strongly increases the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and premature death. The harmful consequences outweigh the suggested effect on Parkinson's disease. For alcohol, findings vary: one large study found a higher risk, while another found a lower risk with moderate use. No clear conclusion can be drawn on this point.
For people who already have Parkinson's disease: no treatments have yet been proven to stop or reverse the disease itself. Brain scans do show that exercise, a healthy diet and keeping the brain mentally active can positively influence brain structure and relieve symptoms. Discuss this with a neurologist, because what works varies from person to person and depends on the stage of the disease.
The evidence for physical activity as a risk-reducing factor is based on several large studies combined, including one with more than 500,000 participants, and is the strongest in this overview. For coffee, the Mediterranean diet, sleep and vitamin D, the findings come from associations observed in large population studies, where cause and effect have not yet been proven. The findings on smoking and alcohol come from the same type of studies and partly contradict one another. None of the factors has been tested in a setup where people were randomly assigned to groups, so causality has not been fully established for any of them. The researchers identify pesticides as one of the best-supported environmental risk factors, but even that is based on associations, not proven causation.