evidence: April 11, 2019"It really seems that nicotine protects against Parkinson's," Daniela Berg, head of the Clinic for Neurology in Kiel, told DW. "Nicotine does not only refer to smoking itself, passive smoking is just as much a part of it as tobacco chewing," Berg explained. [...] "There is hardly anything other than nicotine that has been found to protect against Parkinson's," says Berg. Some studies conclude that smoking stimulates certain enzymes that inactivate nerve toxins. "The effect of nicotine is not yet fully understood, but the fact is that people who smoke are less likely to develop Parkinson's disease. But of course you wouldn't advise anyone to smoke because there are far too many negative outcomes," said the neurologist.