Spotlight
Drink Up
| USF Health
That daily dose of java may just pack an extra perk.
A recent study monitoring the memory and thinking processes of adults between the ages of 65 and 88 found that those with higher blood caffeine levels avoided the onset of Alzheimer's disease in the two-to-four years of study follow-up.
Researchers from USF and the University of Miami say the study provides the first direct evidence that caffeine/coffee intake is associated with a reduced risk of dementia or delayed onset. Their findings appeared in the online version of an article published June 5 in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
"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," says study lead author Dr. Chuanhai Cao, a neuroscientist at the USF College of Pharmacy and the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer's Institute.
The study, which involved 124 people, shows the protection probably occurs even in older people with early signs of the disease, called mild cognitive impairment.
Since 2006, Cao and study co-author Dr. Gary Arendash have published several studies investigating the effects of caffeine/coffee administered to Alzheimer's mice. Most recently, they reported that caffeine interacts with a yet unidentified component of coffee to boost blood levels of a critical growth factor that seems to fight off the Alzheimer's disease process.