6 ms·
The article is not claiming causal link, but this is still interesting. >After full covariate adjustment, consumption of >6 cups/day was associated with 53% hi
by nabla9 3y ago
The article is not claiming causal link, but this is still interesting.
>After full covariate adjustment, consumption of >6 cups/day was associated with 53% higher odds of dementia compared to consumption of 1–2 cups/day
Coffee is stimulant just like some Alzheimer medications used to treat symptoms. It would be interesting to see if people increase coffee consumption with cognitive decline.
- llamaLord 3y agoConsidering the very early effects of dementia start to impact people sometimes decades before it becomes bad enough that they are diagnosed, it's certainly possible that extreme coffee consumption is some kind of self-medication mechanism. Anecdotally, I've seen this a lot with adults with undiagnosed ADHD (including myself until 26). Caffeine can be a (very shitty) alternative to proper stimulant medication that people don't realise they actually need because of a medical issue. So the end up drinking 4-5 coffees a day instead.
- doubled112 3y agoI've been accused of self medicating with coffee before by a guy who was diagnosed with ADHD in his 40s. It was funny at first, but then he started pointing things out. Want to ride bikes? We can get coffee on our travels. I jest, kind of.
- whizzter 3y agoNot far fetched at all, seems there's been studies showing a correlation between ADHD and Dementia between genrations. A big question for me is if the ADHD was always even in the older generations there but was non-diagnosed? https://news.ki.se/link-between-adhd-and-dementia-across-generations https://news.ki.se/link-between-adhd-and-dementia-across-gen...
- jijijijij 3y ago> A big question for me is if the ADHD was always even in the older generations there but was non-diagnosed? Also could the absence of treatment be causal? Undiagnosed people suffer immensely trying to cope and adapt to a neurotypical life. Depression and anxiety disorders are commonly found as comorbidities. The above-normal stress default by itself could probably explain all sorts of aging associated disease and symptoms, I presume. Then you typically find issues with sleep, regular food and water intake ... And yeah, in context, people with undiagnosed ADHD are much, much more likely to abuse drugs, or "self-medicate". Especially smoking and coffee.
- JohnBooty 3y agoEverything was diagnosed far less often in older generations, right?
- klyrs 3y agoNot so! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_hysteria
- terramoto 3y agoWasnt this study made in the UK where most people lack vitamin D, which is also associated with dementia and depression?
- b800h 3y agoIt's 20% incidence in general, highest in Asian (Indian etc) communities - not completely correlated with melanin.
- david_shi 3y agoA bit of a sidenote, but I find it fascinating how little vitamin deficiencies are accounted for in allopathic medical contexts. Deficiencies seem like such a frequent occurrence but most patients end up needing to self-medicate.
- elzbardico 3y ago[flagged]
- CorrectHorseBat 3y agoThere are billions being made with vitamins
- JohnBooty 3y agoThe vitamin/supplements industry makes billions while the pharma industry makes trillions. The pharma industry is financially shaped around big "hit" patented medications that rake in megaprofits. They are literally too big to play in the vitamin-selling market. It's kind of like how you and I might be able to spin up a profitable SaaS or other project that pulls in a few hundred grand or even a few million per year. A nice sum! Meanwhile, FAANG companies can't even consider such projects. They are not going to keep the lights on by pursuing 100,000 different niche projects that each make $100,000 profit per year. That would still only be 20% of their current revenue. The big pharma companies shape how things are done. They fund the studies, they have direct access to doctors, etc. In terms of actual influence the supplement industry might as well not even exist, just like our theoretical SaaS would have zero industry influence.
- lawlessone 3y ago>alternative to proper stimulant medication Nicotine will do it too. Nicotine is a lot harder to stop though.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- datavirtue 3y agoI drink two cups a day, but I must have them. Self medication. I can't imagine five cups, I wouldn't have time to fit them in. Perhaps I'm a lite-weight.
- theGnuMe 3y agoMake stronger coffee
- philipov 3y agoextreme coffee consumption is used to self-medicate ADHD symptoms as well.
- yaomingite 3y ago> Anecdotally, I've seen this a lot with adults with undiagnosed ADHD (including myself until 26). Caffeine can be a (very shitty) alternative to proper stimulant medication that people don't realise they actually need because of a medical issue. So the end up drinking 4-5 coffees a day instead. ADHD medication is among the hardest to get in the first place, and to maintain in many places. I was diagnosed as a child, and still couldn't get regular medication until 3 years ago (I'm 37 now). Doctors will try to push off-label treatments, often SSRIs, which do nothing for ADHD. They will push people to try ineffective talk therapy and describe actual medication as "only a last resort". My cousin can't get it because his insurance says you only have ADHD if you were diagnosed as a child, and he spent his childhood in another country where the roads were barely maintained. ADHD meds reduce the chances someone will abuse drugs according to research, but many docs will cancel prescriptions if you are honest about cannabis use. In the wake of the opiate scandal new restrictions also place limits on how much a pharmacy can dispense, even if everyone has a valid prescription. That's part of the reason for the medication shortages in some areas. It's been a miracle medication for me, but if you don't have money and luck it can be next to impossible to find someone to help you. Those that do often require thousands in fees.
- N1H1L 3y agoADHD is also very strongly linked to cigarette smoking, by the way. What I mean is that nicotine is a form of self-medication
- elzbardico 3y ago[flagged]
- jijijijij 3y agoTo add: At least for methylphenidate, there are several studies showing neuronal long term improvements, "brain normalisation", in people with ADHD. That's rare in psychopharmacology... I do understand hesitation about immediate release amphetamine, but the retarded formulations are also quite hard to abuse. If you do more than prescribed, you won't get high, you will have a bad time. "Getting high", requires a sudden onset, rush, and sharp peak, which retarded meds won't induce. Denying people with ADHD to try stims, is really, really unethical considering our knowledge on their effectiveness treating the condition.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- lr4444lr 3y agoI'm wagering that these people are just chronically under-slept, using higher amounts of coffee to compensate. The link between chronic poor sleep and dementia is well established.
- hiq 3y agoDoesn't coffee impact sleep quality as well? At 6 cups a day, I'd expect some caffeine left in the body when sleeping.
- datavirtue 3y agoTwelve hours to metabolize. The six cup people are totally jacked.
- getwiththeprog 3y agoHalf-life of six hours, so after twelve hours, one quarter of the caffiene will still be in the blood.
- elzbardico 3y agoTolerance kicks in. I can drink a double espresso after a dinner and still sleep like an angel.
- hattmall 3y agoPerhaps, but do you really know if and how much REM sleep you are getting? I've seen some things that link dementia more specifically to quality of sleep and REM time.
- ViktorRay 3y agoCaffeine consumption does lead to poor sleep. Makes sense then that lots of coffee would lead to many nights of low quality sleep thereby increasing the risk of all sorts of bad health outcomes
- daniel_reetz 3y agoThat is interesting. I wonder if it's simply the cadmium and lead found in coffee concentrate in heavy users.
- eurleif 3y agoAnother potential causal mechanism might be that people in cognitive decline have their "daily cup of coffee", forget they've already had it, and then have another.
- dusted 3y agoI was thinking the same, it's very interesting which way the arrow points. Am I saying that because I drink an enormous amount of coffee and really don't want to stop? Yes. But also.. because I hope my high coffee drinking is because of my vanishing brain, rather than the cause of it ;)
- m463 3y agoI've also read, several places, that sleep deprivation correlates very highly with alzheimers. People with trouble sleeping tend to be people with trouble staying awake. And those people generally reach for coffee. there's also the reverse, coffee interfering with sleep as well. EDIT: add a link: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/sleep-well-and-reduce-your-risk-of-dementia-and-death-2021050322508 https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/sleep-well-and-reduce-yo...