Bulgarian yogurt to fight Parkinson’s disease
The newspaper with the largest circulation in Europe, Sächsische Zeitung, tells the story of the media sensation at the institute Max Planck in Dresden where a groundbreaking discovery has been made.
One of the types of lactic acid known as the D(-)-lactate may restore damaged nervous cells, provided that these cells are still alive. Parkinson’s disease involves degeneration of precisely this type of neurons which produce dopamine. One of the factors causing the illness is a defective gene known as DJ-1, which prevents the gluconic acid and the D(-)-lactate from reaching the neurons. The scientists from the institute Max Planck found that the D(-)-lactate, which is contained in Bulgarian yogurt, may eliminate this problem although the exact mechanism of how this can happen is not yet known.
