Coffee the cure?

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Those cups of coffee you drink every day could be staving off your chance of getting Alzheimer’s.
A recent study at Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, Tampa, Fla., suggests daily caffeine consumption can reduce the risk of degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
“We think it might protect against Alzheimer’s,” said Dr. Gary W. Arendash, the leading researcher for the long-term study that used mice bred with the abnormal protein, beta-amyloid, that is believed to cause Alzheimer’s. Beta-amyloid molecules, formed by two enzymes, accumulate and create plaque within the brain. This causes dysfunction and death of brain cells that control learning and memory.
Alzheimer-stricken mice that consumed caffeine-spiked drinking water performed much better, including finding their way through a maze, than the Alzheimer-stricken mice without caffeine. Arendash said the mice without caffeine seemed lost and confused.
“Caffeine gets into the brain quickly,” Arendash said. The advantage of caffeine, since it decreases the levels of enzymes in the beta-amyloid protein, is it is readily available and fights disease unlike any other drug on the market today.

“Caffeine is the most widely-used psychoactive drug in the world,” Arendash said. “It is not addictive in the sense of heroin or alcohol. People who have been taking caffeine, if they stop cold turkey, they will have caffeine withdrawal. You can gradually get off it.”
However, Arendash cautioned people who have a sensitivity to caffeine to avoid it or take lower dosages. Caffeine may cause hypertension and high blood pressure, although Arendash disputed this theories.
In pregnant women, he said caffeine can cause low birth weight and spontaneous abortion, but no birth effects are known to be associated with caffeine. In older adults, caffeine may counteract their medication.
Note that caffeine is a diuretic, so drink plenty of water and take extra calcium. Consultant your physician before starting any caffeine regimen.
“We have so few things we can recommend people can do to fight Alzheimer’s,” Arendash said. “You need to strongly consider (caffeine) if Alzheimer’s runs in your family. Anything that can reduce the risk, this is very important. It can slow down the progression.”

The study’s results were published in the online version of the medical journal, Neuroscience.