Caffeine can reduce cognitive decline in women, suggests study
Scientists from France and Portugal have suggested that caffeine may help protect against cognitive decline in older women. The team used memory and thinking skill tests to show that cognitive decline was slower in women aged 65 and over who drank more than three cups of caffeinated coffee or tea per day, compared with women who drank one cup or less. 'Caffeine is a psychostimulant which appears to reduce cognitive decline in women,' concluded project participant Karen Ritchie of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM). Factors such as age, disability, medication and cardiovascular disease did not appear to affect the results. But until more research has been carried out, the team is not suggesting that older women increase their consumption of coffee. 'While we have some ideas as to how this works biologically, we need to have a better understanding of how caffeine affects the brain before we can start promoting caffeine intake as a way to reduce cognitive decline,' says Dr Ritchie. Why would caffeine slow cognitive decline in women but not in men? Dr Ritchie suggests that the reasons lie in women's heightened sensitivity to caffeine. 'Their bodies may react differently to the stimulant, or they may metabolise caffeine differently,' she says. The four-year study involved an analysis of cognitive decline, incident dementia and caffeine intake in 4,197 women and 2,820 men aged 64 and over and living in three French cities. The results were published in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).
Countries
France, Portugal