Recent research studying almost 44,000 men and women finds that higher levels of Vitamin C i vitamin E in the diet are associated with lower risk of Parkinson’s Disease1.
Vitamini C and E are antioxidants2. Antioksidansi suzbijaju oksidativni stres, koji je uzrokovan visoko reaktivnim molekulama poznatim kao slobodni radikali2. Oksidativni stres ima različite izvore poput sunčeve svjetlosti, onečišćenja zraka, dima cigareta i vježbanja2. Oxidative stress can cause cell damage (through damage to molecules in the body) and can contribute to many diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s bolest and even eye diseases2. Stoga antioksidansi mogu biti korisni za sprječavanje molekularnog oštećenja i održavanje zdravlja stanica.
A recent Swedish study explored the effects of certain dietary factors on the incidence of development of Parkinsonovu bolest (PD) in almost 44,000 men and women1. These factors included dietary intake of vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene1. Unos ovih specifičnih mikronutrijenata uspoređen je s incidencijom PD u skupini1.
Beta-karoten nije imao korelaciju s rizikom od PD1. However, intake of vitamini C and E was inversely correlated to the risk of PD1 što ukazuje da su ovi antioksidansi dali određeni neuroprotektivni učinak koji je smanjio incidenciju PD.
This study may allow the inference that it may be beneficial to increase these vitamini in the diet to reduce risk of PD, but it does not necessarily mean that the association seen was caused by the intake of these vitamini, as people ingesting more of these vitamini might just have healthier diets and lifestyles. It may be the case that there was a causal relationship but this is hard to prove from an association study. There could also be a non-causal relationship; supporting this is the finding from an older study comparing levels of antioxidants in the blood of PD patients which found no evidence that antioxidants contributed to onset or progression of PD3. Lastly, both theories may be true, where vitamini C and E in diet played a minor role. Regardless, the overall message of intaking enough vitamin C (such as through eating oranges and strawberries) and vitamin E (such as through eating nuts and seeds) is probably conducive to good health.
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Reference:
- Hantikainen E., Lagerros Y., et al 2021. Dietary Antioxidants and the Risk of Parkinson Bolest. The Swedish National March Cohort. Neurology Feb 2021, 96 (6) e895-e903; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000011373
- NIH 2021. Antioksidansi: u dubini. Dostupno online na https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/antioxidants-in-depth
- King D.,Playfer J. i Roberts N., 1992. Koncentracije vitamina A, C i E u starijih pacijenata s Parkinsonovom bolešću.Postgrad Med J(1992)68,634-637. Dostupno online na https://pmj.bmj.com/content/postgradmedj/68/802/634.full.pdf
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