Coffee Thwarts Dementia in Older Women

Coffee was never as bad as you grew up thinking it was, and now not a month seems to go by without some study somewhere revealing yet another health benefit buoyed by everyone's favorite fuel. The latest data comes out of an analysis of 6,467 women aged 65 and older who were part of the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study.

The study quantified and qualified long-standing suspicions about caffeine's cognitive benefits. Specifically, how two to three cups of coffee daily can lower the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment in older women.

"What is unique about this study is that we had an unprecedented opportunity to examine the relationships between caffeine intake and dementia incidence in a large and well-defined, prospectively studied cohort of women," notes lead author Ira Driscoll, PhD, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The data have been published in The Journals of Gerontology.

The researchers examined the subjects' caffeine intake, as determined through self-reported consumption of tea, coffee, and cola. Throughout the decade of follow-through examinations, all participants underwent yearly cognitive assessments. The research team analyzed these to zero in on a diagnosis of probable dementia or other forms of cognitive impairment.

Those who consumed a low dose of caffeine (defined in the study as less than 64 milligrams daily) fared worse than those those who consumed a higher amount (more than 261 milligrams daily). The high-dose group were found to be at 36 percent reduced risk of a diagnosis of probable dementia or cognitive impairment. For comparison purposes, 261 milligrams of caffeine is the equivalent of two to three 8-ounce cups of coffee daily, or five to six 8-ounce cups of black tea.

What's the science? Dr. Driscoll told Medical News Today:

"The potential protective effect of caffeine is thought to occur primarily through the blockade of adenosine A2A receptors (ARs), whose expression and function become aberrant with both normal aging and age-related pathology," she replied.

The data holds up even after reckoning for a number of possible obfuscating factors, such as race, age, body mass, alcohol intake, depression, smoking status, high blood pressure, history of cardiovascular disease and sleep quality.

And sorry, boys, but you're out of luck: The researchers were unable to establish a direct association between caffeine intake and reduced dementia risk in men, nor are they able to even generalize the findings for the other-than-fair sex.