We've been told so much conflicting evidence about coffee intake that it is hard to know what to believe. But for millions of die-hard coffee drinkers, studies linking caffeine to bladder cancer, arrhythmias, and other conditions hardly seems to matter. We love our coffee! Finally, two new studies show that we may have been right all along; coffee may provide protection against the scourge of old age, Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Two new research studies, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, show that coffee consumption may both  prevent and improve symptoms of Alzheimer’s. Here are some of the highlights of the research:

• 5 servings of coffee per day (approximately 500 mg) may help to reverse memory problems: in mice who had been created to develop the mouse equivalent of Alzheimer’s, this amount of caffeine was shown to improve memory

• After 2 months on a caffeine regime, these mice scored just as high in tests designed to study memory as “normal” mice who had never had any signs of AD

• Caffeine was found to cut in half the amount of amyloid in the brain; beta amyloid is a protein that is linked to plaque formation in the brain of those who have AD, and causes the characteristic problems of AD

• The researchers also found in a previous study that caffeine consumed in young adulthood prevented AD symptoms from ever occurring in mice that had been bred to develop AD

• It was also found that caffeine did not improve the memory of normal mice in the same way that it did for the mice bred to show AD characteristics

The research suggests that consuming caffeine in the amounts described not only helped improve the memory of the mice who were bred to develop AD symptoms, but also helped prevent memory loss. This leads to the question: would consuming caffeine help those who are at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s from ever getting the disease? Further research is, of course, needed in order to be able to say with any certainty that drinking coffee could help prevent AD, but these preliminary animal studies are good news for those of us who love our coffee.

Related Links:

Video: Top 10 Energy Boosters from Health Guru

Caffeine from Medline Plus

How Caffeine Works from How Stuff Works