BACKGROUND:
Men
who regularly consume caffeinated drinks have a lower risk of PD than
do nondrinkers, but this relation has not been found in women.
Because this sex difference could be due to hormonal effects, the
authors examined prospectively the risk of PD according to use of
post menopausal hormones and caffeine intake among participants in
the Nurses' Health Study.
METHODS:
The
study population comprised 77,713 women free of PD, stroke, or cancer
at baseline, who were post menopausal at baseline or reached
menopause before the end of the study. During 18 years of
follow-up the authors documented 154 cases of PD.
RESULTS:
Overall,
the risk of PD was similar in women using hormones and women who
never used hormones (relative risk 1.02, 95% CI 0.69 to 1.52).
Use
of hormones, however, was associated with a reduced risk of PD among
women with low caffeine consumption (RR 0.39, 95% CI 0.13 to 1.17),
and with increased risk among women with high caffeine consumption
(RR 2.44, 95% CI 0.75 to 7.86; p for interaction = 0.01).
Among
hormone users, women consuming six or more cups of coffee per day had
a fourfold higher risk of PD (RR 3.92, 95% CI 1.49 to 10.34; p =
0.006) than did women who never drink coffee.
CONCLUSION:
These
results suggest that caffeine reduces the risk of PD among women who
do not use post menopausal hormones, but increases risk among hormone
users. Clinical trials of caffeine or estrogens in women should avoid
the combined use of these agents.
Sabate
J.
Departments of Nutrition (Drs. Ascherio and Chen),
Epidemiology
(Drs. Ascherio, Zhang, and Colditz), and Environmental Health (Dr.
Speizer),
Harvard
School of Public Health.
Neurology 2003 Mar 11;60(5):790-5 Related
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