Dietary fat intake and risk for Parkinson's disease

Previous epidemiological studies have generated inconsistent results regarding the associations between dietary fat intakes and risk for Parkinson's disease (PD). We therefore prospectively examined these associations in the National Institutes of Health-American Association of Retired Persons (NIH-AARP) Diet and Health Study. A 124-item food frequency questionnaire was administered at baseline in1995 to 1996, and PD diagnosis was self-reported at the follow-up survey in 2004 to 2006. A total of 1,087 cases with a PD diagnosis between 2000 and 2006 and 299,617 controls were included in the analyses. Overall, intakes of fats and other macronutrients were not associated with PD risk. However, we found a weak positive association between n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and the risk for PD. After adjusting for potential confounders, the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) between extreme quintiles of n-6 PUFA intake was 1.23 (95% CI=1.02-1.49, P for trend=0.02). A similar association was observed for the intake of linoleic acid. Results were similar among men and among women. Our study suggests that fat intake in general is not related to the risk for PD. The weak positive association between intake of n-6 PUFA and PD risk needs further investigation.