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A diet that contains inadequate amounts of the B vitamin
folate may raise the risk of Parkinson's disease.
The study found that dopamine-producing cells in the brain
were more susceptible to damage and death when mice consumed
a folate-deficient diet. Dopamine is a brain chemical that
helps regulate movement, and the cells that produce the neurotransmitter
slowly degenerate in patients with Parkinson's disease.
Mice fed a folate-deficient diet also had elevated
levels of homocysteine, a compound formed naturally
when protein is metabolized.
When high concentrations of homocysteine were infused directly
into the brain, it exacerbated the Parkinson's-like symptoms
in mice. Parkinson's disease is a progressive disorder marked
by hand and facial tremors, stiffness in the limbs and slow
movement.
While previous studies have shown that levels
of homocysteine are elevated in people with Parkinson's disease,
the precise role of homocysteine in the development of the
disease has remained unclear.
This study strongly suggest that elevated homocysteine levels
can indeed render neurons vulnerable to Parkinson's disease.
This study establishes that a diet with low folic acid levels
increases homocysteine levels and the homocysteine, in turn,
renders neurons in the brain vulnerable to dysfunction and
death.
Journal of January Neurochemistry
2002;80:101-110
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