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Coffee Can Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer's
Amenacier writes "Recent studies by Finnish and Swedish researchers have shown that drinking moderate amounts of coffee can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease in people. The reason for this is as yet unknown, although it has been hypothesized that the high levels of antioxidants found in coffee may play a role in preventing dementia and Alzheimer's. Alternatively, some studies have shown that coffee can protect nerves, which may help prevent Alzheimer's. Other studies have shown that coffee may also help to protect against diabetes, another disease which has been shown to have links to Alzheimer's disease. However, researchers warn against drinking too much coffee, as 3 cups or more may cause hallucinations."
that's certainly a plausible explanation. i think the only way to know for sure is to determine the exact pharmacokinetics of the various active compounds found in alcoholic beverages. otherwise, you're just identifying health correlations of various lifestyle choices, which, of course, can be caused by any number of a vast and complex set of factors.
this is somewhat similar to the misconceptions held by a large segment of the public and medical community regarding the health effects of narcotics like heroin. heroin/diacetylmorphine is an exogenous opioid just like morphine, codeine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone. in potency it has a MEDD factor of somewhere between morphine and oxycodone (the active ingredient of OxyContin). and while the process of psychological addiction is highly complex, and there is still much to be learned about it, the general pharmacology and mechanism of action of opiates like morphine and diacetylmorphine are well understood.
however, after drug prohibition went into effect and the opiate-using demographic shifted from well to do upper-class whites like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas De Quincy, and Edgar Allen Poe, as well as other normal everyday people, to lower-class minorities and the poor/homeless, people began associating opiate usage--and especially heroin abuse--with a wide variety of detrimental health effects, including weight-loss, tooth decay, anemia, and general poor health.
this public perception was shaped by prohibitionist propaganda, what was portrayed in the media, and reinforced by the masses of drug addicts living in the streets. however, when physicians actually conducted research into the health effects of heroin use, they found that it caused none of these effects in normal healthy individuals. instead, they discovered that almost all of the negative health effects commonly attributed to heroin use was caused by concurrent use of other more physically harmful substances (like crack/cocaine/meth) or some other lifestyle factor, such as homelessness, poverty and years of living on the streets--and the resultant malnutrition, poor dental hygiene, and lack of medical care.
through empirical research it was discovered that heroin, just like any other opiate, has very little toxicity and isn't particularly harmful to one's body. it's not neurotoxic like alcohol, PCP, and stimulants such as cocaine & meth; it's not cardiotoxic like cocaine, meth, caffeine and other stimulants; and it's not hepatotoxic (liver-damaging) like alcohol and OTC painkillers such as APAP/acetaminophen (a.k.a. Tylenol)--which is the leading cause of liver damage & acute liver failure in western nations.
in fact, as a CNS depressant and hypotensive, heroin actually lower's one's blood pressure and can be therapeutic (or at least attenuate the cardiotoxicity of stimulants). instead of making people age faster the way that meth/coke/crack does, heroin abuse actually slows down aging, and oftentimes chronic users who start using at a young age can look like they haven't hit puberty even as they reach adulthood.
of course, since it's not socially acceptable like tobacco or alcohol use, and opiate dependence is considered a crime in our society, those that can lead functional lives on opiates keep their habit to themselves. so even though there are many doctors who are closet morphine addicts, or businessmen and lawyers who are pill poppers, it's generally the stereotypical gaunt & destitute-looking homeless heroin addicts that are the most visible to the public and consequently receive a disproportionate amount of media attention, leading to erroneous conclusions being drawn about the effects of chronic opiate use.