Patient description: The patient is a 55-year-old man who was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He is complaining of slowness of movement and tremors. His disease is ranked as mild, Hoehn-Yahr Stage I. His past medical history is significant for hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. He lives with his wife. They have three children. He used to be active with gardening before his diagnosis. He complains of shaking and slow movement. He had difficulty entering through a door, as he was frozen and needed guidance to step in. His handwriting is getting smaller. He is offered Levodopa and Trihexyphenidyl. He is an alert and cooperative man who does not have any signs of dementia. He does not smoke or use any illicit drugs.

Clinical trial eligibility criteria: eligible ages (years): 18.0-999.0,  Multiple System Atrophy "clinical possible" or "clinical probable" MSA (Gilman et al., Neurology, 2008 26;71:670-6) 2. Hoehn & Yahr stage I III 3. A stable regimen for at least 1 month prior to V1 and willingness / no fore-seeable need to change the regimen throughout the 52 week follow-up pe-riod for 1. drugs acting against Parkinsonism (e.g. Levodopa, Dopamine-Agonists, Amantadine and MAO-B-Inhibitors) 2. drugs acting against autonomic dysfunction (e.g. ephedrin, midodrin, fludrucortison, octreotide, desmopresin, oxybutinine) 3. antidepressant and antidementive drugs. 4. No regular consumption of EGCG, green tea, or more than two cups of black tea per day 5. Capability and willingness to give written informed consent indicating that the subject has been informed of and understood all aspects pertinent to the study 6. Capability and willingness to comply with the procedures of the study 7. Contraception by adequate contraceptive methods (oral, injected or im-planted hormonal contraceptive methods, intrauterine pessar, sterilisation or real abstinence) in all female patients with childbearing potential 8. Absence of liver disease documented by transaminases and bilirubin below 2-folds of the upper normal level  Hoehn & Yahr stage > III (loss of postural reflexes, no independent walking possible, inability to stand unassisted, wheelchair-bound). 2. Neurodegenerative diseases other than MSA 3. Severe liver disease with elevation of transaminases and bilirubin above 2-folds of the upper normal level or regular intake of hepatotoxic drugs 4. Known hypersensitivity to EGCG or to drugs with similar chemical structure 5. Participation in another clinical trial involving administration of an investigational medicinal product within 1 month prior to V1 6. A physical or psychiatric condition, which at the investigator's discretion may put the subject at risk, may confound the trial results, or may interfere with the subject's participation in this clinical trial 7. Persistent abuse of medication, drugs or alcohol 8. Consumption of > 500 ml grapefruit juice per day (leading to inhibition of cytochrome P-450 isoenzyme 3A4, which may be involved in degradation of EGCG). 9. Current or planned pregnancy or breast feeding in females 10. Females of childbearing potential, who are not using medically reliable methods of contraception for the entire study duration (such as oral, inject-able, or implantable contraceptives, or intrauterine contraceptive devices). 11. Intake of COMT-inhibitors (e.g. Entacapone, Tolcapone) 12. Current or planned therapy with Bortezomib and/ or history of plasmocytoma. 13. Anemia at Screening (Hb < 10g/dl) 14. Other severe medical conditions upon discretion of the LKP