Food supplement eases symptoms of Parkinson's disease

By JEREMY LAURANCE in London

A food supplement available in health food shops has become the first compound shown to slow the progression of Parkinson's disease, the chronic neurological disorder.

American scientists described it as a landmark study that could ultimately provide a new way of treating the disease.

The results show that the supplement, known as co-enzyme Q10, reduced by 44 per cent the loss of function caused by the disease over 16 months.

None of the current treatments had been shown to delay the advance of the disease, the researchers said. It is caused by the loss of brain cells producing dopamine, resulting in tremor, stiffness and impaired co-ordination. The standard treatment is with levodopa, discovered more than 50 years ago.

But as with other more modern treatments, this only eases the symptoms of the disease.

The researchers warned patients not to go out and strip the shelves of health food shops until larger studies had confirmed the findings.

The discovery was presented at the annual meeting of the American Neurological Association in New York and is published in the US journal Archives of Neurology.

Lead researcher Clifford Shults, professor of neurosciences at the University of California, said: "While it is tremendously encouraging that our results indicate it is likely that co-enzyme Q10 slows the progression of Parkinson's disease, our study did not have sufficient numbers of patients to unequivocally prove that it does."

The preliminary study, known as a phase II trial, was run in 10 centres across the US and involved 80 patients, all with early-stage Parkinson's.

The biggest effect was in improving their ability to feed and dress themselves and perform everyday tasks, with an overall 44 per cent reduced decline in movement and mental function over the 16 months of the study.

Shults said a larger study involving hundreds of patients was necessary to confirm the findings.

Co-enzyme Q10 is a naturally occurring substance made in the body that improves the function of mitochondria, the "power houses" that produce energy in the cells. Its levels fall with age and might be linked with some of the diseases of ageing.

For the quantities used in the study the cost is high. The researchers found only those patients taking the largest dose of 1200mg a day gained a worthwhile benefit.

People on doses of 300mg and 600mg fared only slightly better than those taking a placebo.

In Britain, the Inhouse Pharmacy, which trades over the internet, sells eight packs of co-enzyme 10, each containing 30 tablets of 150mg, for £109.40 ($357.80) - enough for one month's supply for a patient taking 1200mg a day.

Robert Meadowcroft, policy director of the Parkinson's Disease Society, said people with early-stage Parkinson's should take medical advice before taking the supplement.

- INDEPENDENT

Further reading
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