“Remember Me? Of course you do because you drink Columbian Coffee”

The January issue of The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease features the results of this study which tracked some 2,000 people over a 21 year period. During the study period the participants self-reported their dietary habits; which included their coffee consumption. After evaluating the effects of many health and socioeconomic factors, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol counts, the research team concluded the participants who drank between three and five cups of coffee a day were 65% less likely to develop dementia than those who drank less. Drinking even more than five cups a day was also associated with a reduced risk of developing dementia but the number of participants drinking this much coffee was too small to be statistically significant. While not advocating someone start drinking coffee as a preventive measure, Dr. Miia Kivipelto, associate professor of neurology at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute, suggests the following factors may be involved:

* Previous studies have found drinking coffee decreases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a disease that raises the risk of dementia.
* Animal studies have shown that caffeine reduces formation of amyloid plaques in the brain. These plaques are a distinguishing characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
* Coffee may be a bloodstream-protecting antioxidant that protects the vascular system enough to reduce the likelihood of dementia.

Kivipelto also noted coffee consumption has been linked to decreased risk of Parkinson’s disease.

So, it turns out some drugs are actually beneficial. Great, and I just gave up coffee a few weeks ago.

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