14 DAY TRIAL // Higher blood levels of caffeine were positively associated with a protective effect on the human brain, especially against forms of dementia and neural decline, including Alzheimer's disease. Serving some coffee may not be that bad for the elderly after all.
The conclusions belong to a new epidemiological study conducted by researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Pharmacy. They followed the cases of 124 individuals aged 65 to 88, for either 2 or 4 years.
Throughout the study, the team was focused on assessing memory and thinking processes in the test subjects. They found that those who consumed the highest amounts of caffeine were the less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's symptoms years later.
The research team was also able to determine that coffee was the main source of caffeine for the test subjects. In many cases, it was the only source, the team adds. The lead author of the research effort was USF neuroscientist Chuanhai Cao, PhD.
This is not the first time that investigators propose a link between coffee and the development of Alzheimer's. However, the research is the first to provide direct evidence that this is indeed the case.
Caffeine is apparently responsible for both reducing the risk of dementia in patients, and delaying the condition's onset. Additional details of the study appear in the latest online issue of the esteemed Journal of Alzheimer's Diseases.
“These intriguing results suggest that older adults with mild memory impairment who drink moderate levels of coffee – about 3 cups a day – will not convert to Alzheimer’s disease, or at least will experience a substantial delay before converting to Alzheimer’s,” Cao explains.
“The results from this study, along with our earlier studies in Alzheimer’s mice, are very consistent in indicating that moderate daily caffeine/coffee intake throughout adulthood should appreciably protect against Alzheimer’s disease later in life,” he goes on to say.
The new conclusions are not meant to be interpreted as encouraging people to drink large amounts of coffee each day. Consuming excessive amounts of caffeine has been demonstrated the cause damage to the heart and cardiovascular system, PsychCentral reports.
“If we could conduct a large cohort study to look into the mechanisms of how and why coffee and caffeine can delay or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, it might result in billions of dollars in savings each year in addition to improved quality of life,” Cao concludes.