Two cups of coffee a day stops Alzheimer's
DRINKING two cups of coffee a day reverses the effects of Alzheimer’s, ground-breaking research has revealed.
Scientists say powerful evidence shows caffeine not only helps to stave off the disease but can even treat it, as it helps to sharpen the memory.
Experts believe that the findings will one day lead to a complete cure for Alzheimer’s, and the discovery will offer hope to hundreds of thousands of sufferers in the UK who are at the mercy of the condition.
Earlier this year Prince Charles admitted the country faces a “bleak outlook” with the disease. Doctors can do little to stop Alzheimer’s taking its devastating course, so techniques that will halt or delay degeneration could be of major benefit.
With 500 new cases being diagnosed every day in the UK and a global epidemic predicted by 2050, there is a desperate need for a cure.
Around 700,000 people in the UK suffer from dementia, 60 per cent of whom have Alzheimer’s. As the population ages, that number is set to rise to 1.4 million within 30 years.
US neuroscientist Dr Gary Arendash, who led the research, said: “The new findings provide evidence that caffeine could be a viable ‘treatment’ for established Alzheimer’s disease, and not simply a protective strategy.
“That’s important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people. It easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process.”
A key aspect of Alzheimer’s is sticky clumps of abnormal protein in the brain, called beta amyloid plaques. Mice with a rodent equivalent of the disease showed a 50 per cent reduction in levels of amyloid protein in their brains after scientists spiked their drinking water with caffeine. The change was reflected in their behaviour as the mice developed better memories and quicker thinking.
Dr Arendash’s team studied 55 mice genetically engineered to develop dementia symptoms identical to those of Alzheimer’s as they aged. Half were given drinking water containing caffeine while the rest had ordinary water.
Humans receiving an equivalent dose of caffeine would be consuming 500 milligrams of caffeine a day – equal to five cups of ordinary coffee. The same amount of caffeine can be obtained by drinking two cups of strong “coffee shop” coffee, 14 cups of tea or 20 cola drinks. At the end of the two-month study, the caffeine-drinking mice performed far better on tests of memory and thinking.
The scientists found that when the mice drank caffeinated water their blood levels of the abnormal beta amyloid protein quickly fell. And, more importantly, the same effect occurred in the brain. Almost half the same protein previously seen when the brains of Alzheimer’s mice were examined had vanished after two months.
Dr Huntington Potter, director of the Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centre in Tampa, Florida, where the studies were conducted, said: “These are some of the most promising Alzheimer’s experiments ever.”
The research was reported in two studies published yesterday in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
But Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust said: “Much more research is needed to determine whether coffee has the same impact in people.”
And Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “It is too soon to say whether a cup of coffee is anything more than a pleasant pick-me-up.”
