Coffee, you probably drink it every day, for most of you! Imagine that these small doses of caffeine could change your life, in the years to come… While they certainly already help to chase away the dark circles of the most morning workers, coffee beans contain an unsuspected power: they could slow the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
It is known that a reasonable consumption of caffeine helps prevent this neurodegenerative disease, the world day of which took place this Saturday, September 21. Indeed, in 2016, a study conducted by researchers from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, the University Hospital of Lille and the University of Lille, in the north of France, revealed that caffeine consumption tended to reduce memory disorders related to age or associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
So the information is actually not that new. In detail, caffeine is said to be able to block the activity of neurotransmitters called “A2A”, which are particularly high in the brains of patients. A study published this summer by the same team tells us a little more about the mechanism of operation of these receptors and confirms the benefits of caffeine on the disease. These elements have allowed us to learn that a caffeine-based treatment was the subject of a phase 3 clinical trial (Editor’s note: until now, the studies only involved mice). The progress made by David Blum’s team is rather on the side of evidence. It has succeeded in demonstrating that the dysfunction of these famous receptors leads to a worsening of memory disorders.
Two to four cups a day
Thanks to a better understanding of the mechanisms at work in Alzheimer’s disease, “we confirm the interest of therapeutic avenues that could act on this target,” explains the researcher. “We are therefore once again highlighting the interest of testing caffeine in the context of a clinical trial on patients suffering from early forms of the disease. Indeed, we can imagine that by blocking these A2A receptors, the activity of which is increased in the patient, this molecule could prevent the development of memory disorders or even other cognitive and behavioral symptoms.”
In other words, the new study confirms that regular and moderate consumption of caffeine (which corresponds to a consumption of two to four cups of coffee per day) is a promising treatment option. From now on, the team of researchers from Lille will be able to evaluate the effect of caffeine on the cognitive functions of patients suffering from early to moderate forms of Alzheimer’s disease.
In Belgium, as we have said, around 200,000 people suffer from it, or from another related disease.
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