By Neomi Heroux
Health News Feature

The alarm goes off and the only good thing about the next thirty minutes is coffee. Hot, delicious smelling, and there to take away the effects of too little sleep and help in the mental preparation for the day ahead. According to a team of Swedish and Danish researchers it may not just help with this day, but it could also be helping with the years ahead.

The study considered how the consumption of coffee in middle-aged men and women affected the risk of dementia in later years. A group of 1,049 participants were tracked for an average of twenty-one years. Sixty-one of the study group developed dementia, 48 with Alzheimer’s disease.

Socioeconomic and health factors, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure were factored into the results and the scientists found that subjects who reported drinking three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely to develop dementia as compared to those who drank two cups or less. Those drinking more than five cups a day were also at reduced risk but there were not enough in this category to conclude if the increase had any further effects.

The lead author of the study Dr. Miia Kivipelto, associate professor of neurology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm said, “This is an observational study. We have no evidence that for people who are not drinking coffee, taking up drinking will have a protective effect.” Therefore the scientists do not advocate drinking coffee as a protective measure.

The authors and her colleagues suggest why coffee may reduce the risk of dementia is found in studies which have linked coffee consumption to lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes has been associated with a greater risk of dementia. Caffeine in animal studies has been shown to reduce the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain, one of the indicators of Alzheimer’s disease. They also believe that coffee may have an antioxidant effect reducing the vascular factors for dementia. The researchers also noted previous studies that have shown coffee drinking may reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease.

Even though the study covered 21 years 70 percent of the original group was available for re-examination. The information on coffee consumption had been gathered at the beginning of the study and was considered more accurate than if the participants had to recall their consumption in years past. The group was surveyed in 1972, 1977, 1982 or 1987, and was finally re-examined in 1988 to compare rates of Alzheimer’s and dementia. The research also included a small group of tea drinkers but the lowest risk of dementia was found among the coffee drinkers. The information on coffee consumption was gathered by questionnaires so this is not a controlled study and the authors acknowledge that more information is needed to positively identify the effect of coffee drinking.

In the last ten years there has been a lot of information concerning coffee consumption published. Most of the scientific facts would indicate that those who drink coffee will receive more benefit than harm from it, including research which indicates that it will help protect women from heart problems.

If you enjoy your morning coffee and a cup or two during the day, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, it will hot dehydrate you, it will not contribute to heart disease or irregular heart beats, it does not contribute to hypertension, and it doesn’t contribute to bone loss. Enjoy!