caffeine performed

In other Alzheimer's news, curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric, may be the reason why elderly villagers in India who consume lots of curry have one of the world's lowest rates of Alzheimer's disease. Now, a team of researchers in California has discovered that combining curcumin with vitamin D3 may prompt the immune system to mobilize against amyloid beta, the substance that forms the plaques in the brain characteristic of Alzheimer's. So far, the investigators found evidence of this effect in tests with blood samples from nine Alzheimer's patients, a patient with cognitive impairment and three healthy controls. They incubated immune system cells called macrophages which clean up waste products - including amyloid beta - with vitamin D and curcumin. The study showed that curcumin boosted the binding of amyloid beta to the macrophages and that vitamin D strongly stimulated the uptake and absorption of amyloid beta in macrophages. At this point, the researchers aren't recommending any doses of either curcumin or vitamin D for Alzheimer's prevention or treatment, but they are planning bigger studies with more patients. The findings were published in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

Doses of caffeine equivalent to drinking five cups of coffee daily may help reverse memory problems characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, according to University of South Florida report. The research, carried out on mice and published July 5, 2009, in the online Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, suggested caffeine slowed the production of the protein plaques thought to be the hallmark of the disease.

The 55 mice used in the study had been bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. First, behavior tests confirmed the mice had impaired memories when they were about 19 months old; equivalent to about 70 in human years. Then, researchers gave half the mice caffeine daily, equivalent to what a human being would receive in five cups of coffee, in their drinking water.

When the mice were tested again after two months, those who received the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills; in fact, they performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia. Those drinking plain water continued to test poorly. In addition, the brains of the mice given caffeine showed nearly a 50% reduction in levels of beta amyloid protein, which forms destructive clumps in the brains of dementia patients.

The researchers suggest that caffeine suppresses inflammatory changes in the brain that lead to an overabundance of the protein, but added that it is too early to say whether drinking coffee or taking caffeine supplements will help people with Alzheimer's.

This is all obviously intriguing news, but it is interesting to me that the in media coverage of this study, reporters have largely played up the coffee angle, when the mice were given caffeine, not coffee. The fact is that green and white teas also contain caffeine, along with other compounds that may be neuro- and cardioprotective - and, in my experience, tea is less likely to cause the insomnia, digestive upset, bladder irritation, and jitters that often come with coffee drinking.fight depression