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health
You can lower the risk. And the treatment of incurable brain disease is making progress.
The cabaret artist Ottfried Fischer (58) has Parkinson's . At the end of the year he wants to stop with his popular TV show "Ottis Schlachthof" in the Bayerischer Rundfunk. 280, 000 sufferers are registered in Germany. Can you protect yourself from Parkinson's ? Are there any therapies? We clarify.
The disease
Parkinson's develops over many years. In the midbrain, neurons gradually die off. Result: too few messenger substances are formed, which ensure the transmission of stimuli between brain cells . Above all, there is a lack of the substance dopamine. Symptoms usually show up between the ages of 50 and 60: the voice becomes quieter, sounds uniform. Affected are tired, weak, often constipated. Prone to stumbling, a rigid facial expression, as with Ottfried Fischer, and trembling come to it.
The best prevention
Green tea and coffee
Good news from Japan: Physicians proved that substances from green tea can block the development of Parkinson's disease. Two to three cups per day halve the risk of mental deterioration. Studies in Germany, the US and China confirm that green tea prevents it. Here, however, three to four cups are recommended daily. The tea provides so-called polyphenols (aromatic compounds). They protect the dopamine-forming brain cells. This effect is also demonstrated in caffeinated coffee: four to six cups a day cut the risk in half.
Mediterranean diet
Other studies show: Mediterranean diet increases the protective effect of green tea still. It consists daily of vegetable oil, lots of vegetables and fruits in all colors, wholegrain and fish, but little meat and animal fats such. B. butter. Omega-3 fatty acids from linseed oil, rapeseed oil and olive oil, salmon, mackerel and herring are particularly protective. Apples are also good: their dye quercetin protects brain cells from pathological degradation. And dark berries such. B. Blueberries reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease by so-called anthocyanins.
Effective therapies
drugs
" Parkinson's disease can be treated very well and the dopamine deficiency can be medically balanced with many tricks, " says neurologist Prof. Heinz Reichmann from the University Hospital of Dresden. The most important remedy is L-Dopa. From this the brain forms more dopamine again. If Parkinson's is detected early, drops, pills or infusions can stop the symptoms for decades, Reichmann said. He has also discovered an early test: he examined patients who lost their sense of smell between 50 and 60 years. Every tenth showed signs of Parkinson's.
brain probe
"In more severe cases, a brain pacemaker guarantees quality of life, " says Reichmann. Doctors put a fine probe into the brain. It is connected to a flat device that sits on the chest under the skin. This transmitter regulates the interference via the brain probe. A German study proves that you can completely stop the tremor.
