Baker’s yeast may help to alleviate Parkinson’s disease, according to a study presented at this year’s Society for General Microbiology meeting.

Previous trials have found that some natural compounds may be able to be incorporated in treatments for patients with this disease, and researchers believe that yeast could be one of them. Recently, worms used in an animal trial that had this nerve-damaging disorder were exposed to nutrients that could stave off Parkinson’s disease.

The team discovered yeast was able to improve symptoms of the illness, and further research of the compound could be used during future therapy studies. Furthermore, gaining a better understanding of baker’s yeast could also lead to the use of human cells damaged by Parkinson’s disease.

“With the aging of the human population, the number of people affected by Parkinson’s disease will continue to increase,” said Tiago Felming Outeiro, lead author of the clinical trial. He added that “it’s imperative that treatments for such neurodegenerative diseases are developed, [and] our studies in yeast have enabled us [to] make a step towards this.”

Each year, an estimated 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, according to Parkinsons-Disease.org.