Doses of caffeine equivalent to drinking five cups of coffee daily may help reverse memory problems characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, according to University of South Florida report. The research, carried out on mice and published July 5, 2009, in the online Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, suggested caffeine slowed the production of the protein plaques thought to be the hallmark of the disease.

The 55 mice used in the study had been bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. First, behavior tests confirmed the mice had impaired memories when they were about 19 months old; equivalent to about 70 in human years. Then, researchers gave half the mice caffeine daily, equivalent to what a human being would receive in five cups of coffee, in their drinking water.

When the mice were tested again after two months, those who received the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills; in fact, they performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia. Those drinking plain water continued to test poorly. In addition, the brains of the mice given caffeine showed nearly a 50% reduction in levels of beta amyloid protein, which forms destructive clumps in the brains of dementia patients.

The researchers suggest that caffeine suppresses inflammatory changes in the brain that lead to an overabundance of the protein, but added that it is too early to say whether drinking coffee or taking caffeine supplements will help people with Alzheimer's.

This is all obviously intriguing news, but it is interesting to me that the in media coverage of this study, reporters have largely played up the coffee angle, when the mice were given caffeine, not coffee. The fact is that green and white teas also contain caffeine, along with other compounds that may be neuro- and cardioprotective - and, in my experience, tea is less likely to cause the insomnia, digestive upset, bladder irritation, and jitters that often come with coffee drinking.