Caffeine May Help Guard Against Dementia

By Jane Farrell

Ordinary caffeine appears to have a positive effect on one of the key proteins responsible for Alzheimer’s, researchers report.

Researchers from the University of Bonn and the University of Lille said the discovery may pave the way for treatment of Alzheimer’s.

The results were published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.

Deposits of the protein, tau, break up communication between neural cells and cause them to degenerate. At present, there is no drug available to prevent the process. Caffeine works by blocking various receptors in the brain, and that could play an important role in inhibitingthe action of tau.

Over several weeks, the researchers monitored genetically altered mice and found that they did better on memory tests than a control group of mice that had no genetic alterations involving caffeine.

The researchers now want to test in additional animal models. If the results are positive, they may do a clinical study.