Finish and Swedish scientists found that middle-aged people who drink a moderate amount of coffee may significantly reduce their risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease later in life, Agence France-Presse reported.
"Middle-aged people who drank between three and five cups of coffee a day lowered their risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease by between 60 and 65 percent later in life," said the study’s lead researcher, Miia Kivipelto, a professor at the University of Kuopio in Finland and at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
Conducted in collaboration with the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki and published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the study focused on repeated interviews with 1,409 people in Finland over more than 20 years.
The participants were asked about their coffee-drinking habits and memory function when they were in their 50s and then were tested again in 1998 when they were between the ages of 65 and 79.
The researchers said 61 people developed dementia, 48 of whom developed Alzheimer’s.
However, the researchers are unclear as to exactly how or why the coffee drinking delayed or avoided the onset of Alzheimer’s, but suggested it might have to do with the antioxidants in coffee.
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Click here to read more from the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (subscription required).
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