Coffee Can Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer's 242
Amenacier writes "Recent studies by Finnish and Swedish researchers have shown that drinking moderate amounts of coffee can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease in people. The reason for this is as yet unknown, although it has been hypothesized that the high levels of antioxidants found in coffee may play a role in preventing dementia and Alzheimer's. Alternatively, some studies have shown that coffee can protect nerves, which may help prevent Alzheimer's. Other studies have shown that coffee may also help to protect against diabetes, another disease which has been shown to have links to Alzheimer's disease. However, researchers warn against drinking too much coffee, as 3 cups or more may cause hallucinations."
Sleep (Score:3, Insightful)
Drink moderately and don't forget to rest. I wonder if this correlation is caused by the coffee?
This reminds me... (Score:2, Insightful)
of the people who claim that "wine" is good for you one glass a day. Fools! Its not the wine, its stuff from the grapes, which mind you are also present in fresh grapes, rasins, and grape juice. Wine gets the props though cause then it makes people feel better about getting drunk every night.
Same here, ya there might be a few healthy tidbits, but the negatives far out weight the health benifits.
Re:This reminds me... (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, you're wrong. ANY alcohol, in moderation, has the same effect.
The flavinoids in grapes are also benefisial, but any alcohol "just works."
Teetotalers die younger than those who consume moderate amounts of alcohol.
Re:I'm skeptical (Score:3, Insightful)
There's always exceptions to the rule. If 5% of the people who don't drink coffee get it, yet 2% who do drink it don't, then there's a good chance it has some positive effect.
That doesn't change the fact that 2% of the people drinking coffee STILL got it. It's all about reducing the odds.
Re:This reminds me... (Score:5, Insightful)
If one glass of wine is getting you drunk, you should see a doctor immediately.
Re:Uhh...I bet Tea could do the same. (Score:2, Insightful)
.. some forms of Tea is also high in Antioxidants.
Green Tea and White Tea, but I think the term bio-active components is more in place. Concentrations are dependent on the quality of tea as well and how it is prepared. Same goes for coffee.
Re:This reminds me... (Score:5, Insightful)
The benefits of alcohol depend on which specialist you talk to. A cardiologist might recommend it because the alcohol tends to reduce plaque build up in the arteries. A gastroenterologist will tell you to avoid it because metabolizing alcohol leads to fatty build-up in the liver. The neurologists tell you that it kills your nerve cells.
What this all means depends on your body chemistry. If you come from a family with a history of heart trouble, the alcohol might help keep that under control. Sure you'll get some fat build up in the liver, but your body can cope with that. Someone with a history of degenerative neurological disorders might want to shy away from it.
Most things in medicine are trade-offs and affect people differently.
Re:Sweet! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Seriously..... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's not for them to say 'coffee is good' or 'coffee is bad'. That's for you to determine.
It's antithetical to scientific thinking to draw conclusions that aren't relevant or supported by the results. It is, however, something journalists love to do for them.
But anyway, are you really unable to fathom the idea that something can be good in some ways and bad in others? And that something can be good under a certain set of circumstances and bad under another?
Besides which, coffee hasn't been shown to be particularly bad for you unless you have a heart condition and need to avoid caffeine for blood-pressure reasons. It also contains some carcinogens - which is one of those sources of journalistic misinterpretation, because there's a big difference between 'contains carcinogens' and 'causes cancer'. Just because something contains a carcinogen doesn't necessarily mean that carcinogen is potent enough and the concentration sufficient to substantially change the risks of cancer, in particular once you take into account how much actually gets taken up into the body.
Re:This reminds me... (Score:4, Insightful)
The worst part is that we've had several generations of misinformation about the "evils of drink" because of religious zealots who accepted the backing of the Women's Christian Temperance Union [wikipedia.org].
We still see their effect today with churches that use grape juice instead of wine for communion:
coffee and religion... with a link! (Score:3, Insightful)
Coffee as a means of grace [bible.org]
In answer to the tradition of Christmas, I don't think many Christians would say that Christ was born on 25 December, rather that they wanted to celebrate his incarnation as a human and figured a midwinter date was as good as any (with about as much evidence for midwinter as any other time). It wasn't until marketing got a hold of it in the early 20th century that Christmas even became the important Christian holiday. Before that, a number of Christian holidays held roughly equal significance and some even more importance (e.g., Easter, whose rough date is known on the basis of lunar calendars).
In terms of "wanting to drink someone's blood," the celebration of the Lord' Supper / Eucharist is not the same from one Christian tradition to another with many taking it as a memorial / remembrance with others viewing it as an act of spiritual thanksgiving (hence the term "Eucharist" which means "thanksgiving"). The idea of blood sacrifice though is tied to it whether it is a memorial or a type of participation (real or otherwise)--part of Christianity is hard to swallow because today we don't want to think anything requires the ultimate price. All too often looking in the news, I think we try to avoid painful realities like death because they aren't comfortable.
Take it all for what it's worth, thanks for "reading" if you made it this far.
Re:Damned if you do, Damned if you don't (Score:5, Insightful)
Various studies have been done giving drugs to spiders, and using their webs as evidence of the effects. My family doctor has a poster of these webs in his offices to show patients what these substances can do to you,
I'd agree with that. I had a couple of cups the other day, and my web turned out completely crap - didn't catch any flies either. You know, not all of us have been bitten by a radioactive spider or are in any other way closely related to spiders. You'd be better off warning people off chocolate by showing pictures of dead dogs - at least they're mammals.
Re:Damn.... (Score:3, Insightful)
A couple days back Slashdot also posted an article on how just 3 cups of coffee can affect the mind by also creating delusions.
Not all delusions are of the "I must be in an alternate universe" type. Some are far more subtle, and may just have the effect of an error in judgment.