3 ms·

Evidence caffeine may slow Alzheimer's disease and other dementias

12 points by MaysonL 17y ago

anigbrowl 17y ago
An interesting collection of articles. It's worth noting (as they do in the preface) that the research symposium was sponsored by the Portuguese Coffee producer's association, but the research is none the less interesting for that. I'd certainly rather spend $1/day on coffee as a gentle prophylactic than on what is now still experimental Alzheimer's mitigation medication.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
klochner 17y ago
I didn't need more encouragement.
- percept 17y ago
  For your health, man--your health!
metamemetics 17y ago
Not as much as nicotine though. NON-smokers are shown to be 50% more likely to develop Alzheimer's (controlling for increased mortality). They are both stimulants with effects upon the acetylcholine system. One of the receptors weakly stimulated by nicotine but a target for research into treaments for Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, Parkinsons, ADHD as well as nootropics is the Alpha 7 Nicotinic receptor. If you hear of any alpha 7 nicotinic receptor agonists pharmaceuticals that are well tolerated in humans with few side effects, I would invest heavily.
- anigbrowl 17y ago
  I wonder if smoking-cessation products like nicotine lozenges and so on might start to get off-label prescriptions as has happened with some other drugs. One issue they all have is their lack of a quick release, which is what most smokers are seeking (guilty :-/ ).
  - metamemetics 17y ago
    The problem with nicotine, and part of the reason its so addictive, is its extremely short half lfie (2hours). However there are studies showing improvement in cognitive impairments with nicotine patches. One medication currently used for alzheimer's is Galantamine ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galantamine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galantamine ) which raises general acetylcholine levels as well as increasing nicotinic acetylcholine activity specifically.
car 17y ago
May I counter with this: http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20100428/panel-no-evidence-alzheimers-prevention http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20100428/panel-no-evide...

12 points by MaysonL 17y ago

An interesting collection of articles. It's worth noting (as they do in the preface) that the research symposium was sponsored by the Portuguese Coffee producer's association, but the research is none the less interesting for that. I'd certainly rather spend $1/day on coffee as a gentle prophylactic than on what is now still experimental Alzheimer's mitigation medication.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]

klochner 17y ago

I didn't need more encouragement.

percept 17y ago
For your health, man--your health!

metamemetics 17y ago

Not as much as nicotine though. NON-smokers are shown to be 50% more likely to develop Alzheimer's (controlling for increased mortality). They are both stimulants with effects upon the acetylcholine system. One of the receptors weakly stimulated by nicotine but a target for research into treaments for Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, Parkinsons, ADHD as well as nootropics is the Alpha 7 Nicotinic receptor. If you hear of any alpha 7 nicotinic receptor agonists pharmaceuticals that are well tolerated in humans with few side effects, I would invest heavily.

anigbrowl 17y ago
I wonder if smoking-cessation products like nicotine lozenges and so on might start to get off-label prescriptions as has happened with some other drugs. One issue they all have is their lack of a quick release, which is what most smokers are seeking (guilty :-/ ).
- metamemetics 17y ago
  The problem with nicotine, and part of the reason its so addictive, is its extremely short half lfie (2hours). However there are studies showing improvement in cognitive impairments with nicotine patches. One medication currently used for alzheimer's is Galantamine ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galantamine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galantamine ) which raises general acetylcholine levels as well as increasing nicotinic acetylcholine activity specifically.

car 17y ago

May I counter with this: http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20100428/panel-no-evidence-alzheimers-prevention http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20100428/panel-no-evide...