Coffee Staves off Alzheimer’s (OK, In Mice)

It’s not a sure thing, and to be more precise, it’s less of a sure thing for humans than it is for mice, but the good news is there is now some serious evidence that caffeine in early adulthood may prevent onset of memory problems in mice bred to develop Alzheimer’s symptoms in old age. A University of South Florida press release reports that two recent studies published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease
show that caffeine significantly decreased abnormal levels of the protein
linked to Alzheimer’s disease. One of the new studies used 55 mice that were genetically altered to develop memory
problems mimicking Alzheimer’s disease. After tests confirmed the mice were exhibiting signs of memory impairment, the researchers
gave half the mice caffeine in their drinking water. The other half got
plain water. The Alzheimer’s mice received the equivalent of five 8-oz.
cups of regular coffee a day. That’s the same amount of caffeine – 500
milligrams — as contained in two cups of specialty coffees like
Starbucks, or 14 cups of tea, or 20 soft drinks. The University of South Florida reports that at the end
of the two-month study, the caffeinated mice performed much better on
tests measuring their memory and thinking skills. In fact, their
memories were identical to normal aged mice without dementia. The
Alzheimer’s mice drinking plain water continued to do poorly on the
tests.
Wait, there’s more: the brains of the caffeinated mice
showed nearly a 50-percent reduction in levels of beta amyloid, a
substance forming the sticky clumps of plaques that are a hallmark of
Alzheimer’s disease. The press release reports that other experiments by the same investigators
indicate that caffeine appears to restore memory by reducing both
enzymes needed to produce beta amyloid. The researchers also suggest
that caffeine suppresses inflammatory changes in the brain that lead to
an overabundance of beta amyloid.
Read more from the University of South Florida.