Caffeine May Reduce Alzheimers

thelars writes "This article discusses research that links coffee consumption to a reduced risk of alzheimers disease. According to the article, drinking at least three cups of coffee a day may reduce your risk of alzheimers by up to 60%. Time to stock up on Penguin mints..."

Comments

Parkinson's too

[avoisin]

Not only that, but it has been shown to have great effects on Parkinson's disease as well. I know several folks personally where it has had a substantial effect in delaying onset and even reducing symptoms!

Check out this CNN story

Re:Parkinson's too

[bsDaemon]

caffeine, like speed, riddlin, marijuna, etc, stimulates the scretion of the nuerotransmitter dopemine. Dopemine defficiany is the cause of parkinsons. So smokers, dopers, and Pete Townshend are all parkinson-free, too.

Re:Cause and effect?

[gwernol]

I wouldn't put it at the caffeine allowing you to do more mental work, but that heavy consumers of caffeine tend to drink lots of caffeinated beverages because their brains are already busy and they need to stay perked up.

Another interesting and plausible theory. As is so often the case, we need a proper controlled study to distinguish the correlation from the cause and effect.

Something to remember...(ha, ha)

[hauntfox]

Retrospective studies like this are too susceptible to confounding. One obvious issue would be that more intelligent/better off people might drink more coffee, and take longer for the disease to show up. There are a lot of variables that go into Alzheimer's disease. Dementia is usually the sum of a lot of different "insults" to the brain. So start at your baseline intelligence, then take away the brain that died with any damage done. Little strokes ("vascular dementia") are a big contributor, and smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol all promote them. (Folic acid and vitamin B6 are showing promise at reducing/preventing this problem.) Shear damage to neuronal axons, like with a fall off a horse (President Reagan) or boxing or football will take you down a notch. This makes the dementia more obvious. Dementia can be rated by several scales, but the most common is the Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE). As dementia progresses, it can be treated with some novel medications that (simplisticly) amplify the signals through the damaged brain. In spite of the pun in my "subject", dementia is no laughing matter, and would be a fate worse than death in many people's minds. People with dementia usually don't have insight into the problem, though. They continue blissfully unaware of their forgetfullness. It is most stressful for their family. I am a doctor, (IAAD?) btw. Regards.

Good point

[DinZy]

There are a slew of other chemicals in coffee so perhaps one of these or a combination of many might be the key. There really isnt a way to test this though.