The Professional Geriatric Care Manager’s Blog

For the Coffee Drinkers Out There

A 21 year study was just recently completed. During the course of the study, 1,409 middle aged men and women, along with the number of coffees they drank each day, were carefully tracked. At the end, it was discovered that those individuals who drank between 3 and 5 cups each day were 65% less likely to develop dementia when compared to those who drank 2 cups or less.It was also noted that drinking more than 5 cups each day was not significantly different enough from the 2 to 5 cup range, so it’s not simply an issue of more is better.

A few reasons for the results have been posited. In the past, coffee consumption has been linked to decreased risk for Type 2 diabetes, a disease which has been associated with increased risk for dementia. Coffee may also have an antioxidant effect in the bloodstream – this would reduce the risk for vascular forms of dementia. It’s also been discovered that caffeine has been shown to reduce the buildup of amyloid plaques in the brain during animal studies. Amyloid plaques are one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.

So for all those coffee drinkers out there, don’t forget to keep drinking your brew each day!

Original Article