Can Increasing Coffee Intake Harm Your Brain?

by CBS Atlanta:

Increasing the amount of coffee you drink could be linked to pre-symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, according to a new study.

The study evaluated the association between change or constant coffee consumption habits and the occurrence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), as reported by The Express Tribune.

Cognitive impairment is when a person has trouble remembering, learning new things, concentrating, or making decisions that affect their everyday life and is categorized as an early symptom of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC reports that more than 16 million people are living with cognitive impairment in the U.S. alone.

The study analyzed 1,445 individuals between the ages of 64 and 84, over the course of three-and-a-half years. Researchers found that increasing coffee intake habits could increase the risk of MCI over time.

“These findings from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Ageing suggested that cognitively normal older individuals who never or rarely consumed coffee and those who increased their coffee consumption habits had a higher risk of developing MCI,” said Francesco Panza, one of the researchers from the University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy.

Researchers also found that cognitively healthy older individuals who modified their habits  by increasing with time their amount of coffee consumption (more than a cup of coffee per day) had about two times higher rate of MCI compared to those with reduced habits (less than a cup of coffee per day).

These participants also had a one-and-a-half time higher rate of MCI when compared to individuals with constant habits (neither more nor less than 1 cup of coffee per day).

Notably, coffee-drinkers who consumed a moderate amount (1-2 cups of coffee per day) had a reduced rate of the incidence of MCI when compared to those who habitually never or hardly consume coffee.

“Therefore, moderate and regular coffee consumption may have neuroprotective effects also against MCI – confirming previous studies on the long-term protective effects of coffee, tea, or caffeine consumption and plasma levels of caffeine against cognitive decline and dementia,” Panza added.