Caffeine Could Help Ward Off Dementia In Older Women, Study Finds

Good news, coffee lovers. A new study has uncovered a significant link between caffeine consumption in older women and a reduced risk of dementia. Although researchers have yet to establish a “cause and effect” between the two, they did find a strong relationship between higher caffeine consumption in women 65 and older and a lower risk of developing dementia or cognitive impairment. Specifically, those women who self-reported drinking more than 261 milligrams of caffeine per day ― or about two to three eight-ounce cups of coffee or five to six eight-ounce cups of black tea ― enjoyed a 36 percent decline in their risk of getting dementia during a 10 year follow-up period. “While we can’t make a direct link between higher caffeine consumption and lower incidence of cognitive impairment and dementia, with further study we can better quantify its relationship with cognitive-health outcomes,” Ira Driscoll, the study’s lead author and a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “The mounting evidence of caffeine consumption as a potentially protective factor against cognitive impairment is exciting given that caffeine is also an easily modifiable dietary factor,” Driscoll said. Participants in the study, published in the Journals of Gerontology, came from the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study, which was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood In...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news