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Coffee May Ward Off Progression to Dementia
Patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may be able to avoid developing dementia by drinking several cups of coffee a day, the results of a new study suggest.
The study showed that patients with MCI who have a plasma caffeine level of 1200 ng/mL avoided progression to dementia over the following 2 to 4 years.
These patients exhibited a plasma cytokine profile that was exactly the same as that of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) transgenic mice that were given caffeinated coffee and didn’t progress to dementia. It’s therefore very likely that it’s caffeine from coffee, and not from other sources, that affords the cognitive protection, said study senior author Gary W. Arendash, PhD, research scientist, Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Hospital, St. Petersburg, Florida. The research also suggests that certain cytokine patterns could signal for impending conversion to dementia among those with MCI, said Dr. Arendash.
The study is published in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
(Source: medscape.com)
Alzheimer’s Prevention: Reducing Your Risk
Alzheimer’s disease might well be considered an epidemic in our country..
With more than 5.3 million Americans diagnosed with the disease and that number expected to double by 2030, it makes sense to ask ourselves what can be done to prevent this devastating disease.
According to a recent Medscape report, the costs associated with Alzheimer’s disease globally are staggering at an estimated $604 billion, or a full one percent of the world’s gross domestic product.
But looking beyond the economic impact, the emotional costs borne by the families of Alzheimer’s patients is incalculable..
Alzheimer’s is a disease for which there is no effective treatment whatsoever. To be clear, there is no pharmaceutical agent, no magic pill that a doctor can prescribe that will have any significant effect on the progressive downhill course of this disease.
But can it be prevented?
