Parkinson's Disease Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention: Could Dietary Nicotine Be The Key To Preventing The Disorder?

A new study reveals that dietary nicotine, found naturally in the Solanaceae plant, may offer a protective effect against Parkinson's disease.

The study, published in the journal Annals of Neurology, outlines how eating foods containing even a small amount of nicotine such as peppers and tomatoes may help prevent the development of the debilitating movement disorder.

And while the preventative benefits of nicotine, found in cigarette smoke and other forms of tobacco, have been the topic of past studies---there has been no scientific evidence to confirm that these products protect against Parkinson's disease.

For this latest study, Dr. Susan Searles Nielsen led a team of researchers who analyzed data collected from 490 newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease patients and 644 participants with other neurological conditions as part of a control group.

The results showed that while general consumption of vegetables did not affect the risk for developing Parkinson's disease, eating edible Solanaceae did. And peppers were found to offer the most protective effect.

But researchers noted that most of the benefits were observed in men, rather than women who had little or no history of using tobacco products that contain more nicotine than the food items used in the study.

Nielsen says that this study is the first of its kind to look into the effects of dietary nicotine in relation to Parkinson's disease.

"Our study is the first to investigate dietary nicotine and risk of developing Parkinson's disease," Nielsen said.

"Similar to the many studies that indicate tobacco use might reduce risk for Parkinson's, our findings also suggest a protective effect from nicotine, or perhaps a similar but less toxic chemical in peppers and tobacco."

The study's authors recognized the need for more research on the protective effects that dietary nicotine may offer in the goal of innovating new ways to intercept and prevent the disease.

Symptoms of Parkinson's disease vary depending on the affected individual, but may include tremors, slowed movement, rigid muscles, impaired posture and balance, loss of automatic movements, as well as speech and writing changes---according to Mayo Clinic.

And while there is currently no cure for the nervous system disorder, there are medications available to control the symptoms associated with the disease.