Comment: Caffeine and PD--Time to consider other interventions

Caffeine had shown promise in a small (61 patients), short (6 weeks), randomized study1 for improving motor function in patients with Parkinson disease. Caffeine holds appeal as an inexpensive intervention that is well-tolerated in most individuals. The investigators for that small study now report the results of a multicenter randomized study2 using the same outcome. They designed the study to have approximately 4 times as many participants, an extended follow-up to evaluate the persistence of any effects, and adequate power to detect a similar effect size as observed in the smaller study. The study focused on symptomatic improvement and not disease progression given the lack of any biological model in which caffeine would affect the latter.

Source: Neurology - October 23, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Hall, C. B. Tags: ARTICLE Source Type: research