咖啡能帮助减缓老年痴呆

咖啡毫无疑问是美国人最喜爱的饮料，每天喝上几杯咖啡早已成为了人们的生活习惯。最近美国的健康专家经过对小白鼠进行咖啡因实验后得出结论，咖啡因不仅仅只是一种饮料，它还对人们的健康有利。研究表明，咖啡因能够有效减少老年痴呆症患者的记忆力减弱。这一结论对于很多人来说是福音。因为毕竟咖啡是我们日常生活不可缺少的饮品，如果单喝咖啡就能减弱老年痴呆症的症状，那么不仅给治疗带来很大的便利，而且还能降低治疗的成本。

In this morning's Healthcare Watch, caffeine and Alzheimer's disease. Two new studies have found that your morning cup of joe might help prevent memory loss due to Alzheimer's disease. Our own doctor Jennifer Ashton is here to talk about it. Good morning.

Good morning, Maggie.

So these are two studies that were done on mice. Please tell me they didn't give these much coffee to the little mice.

They didn't. They were very humane. They gave the equivalent of 500 milligrams of caffeine per day to little lab mice, who have been induced to have the same type of memory changes as we see in Alzheimer's disease. And they found a very positive effect on their memory and thinking actions over a two-month period, so put another one in the column of a good effect of caffeine.

So this is how much a human being would have to drink if the scenario is created in our world.

Correct. And it looks like a lot. But it's important to realize that now when we go to a deli or a Starbucks, this could actually just be equivalent of 2 1/2 large or Grande cups of coffee a day. So while it's a little bit more than most people have in the morning, it's actually not such an excessive amount.

How quickly did they see the effect on these mice? How long did it last?

They saw it over a two-month time period and they are still following them. So it's not yet known whether they change is appeared to be permanent or not. Their thinking is that actually the caffeine worked by decreasing the inflammation in the brain, cuts down on the buildup of protein we see in the brain of people with Alzheimer's disease.

How encouraging is this, Jen?

I think it's very encouraging, you know. So many people are affected by Alzheimer's. It's important to remember that caffeine is a drug. This is something that's obviously readily accessible in our environment practically. It's part of most people's day-to-day and something that can have a positive effect like this is very important and very encouraging.

Could you encourage people who are aging to drink more coffee in light of this?

It's important to realize the study did not find really a preventive effect, but more of a therapeutic effect. So more studies are needed, but sounds good.