Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide, its potential beneficial effect for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be adequately appreciated. Substantial evidence from epidemiological studies and fundamental research in animal models suggests that caffeine may be protective against the cognitive decline seen in dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). A special supplement to the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, "Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases," sheds new light on this topic and presents key findings.
Key Findings:
- Multiple beneficial effects of caffeine to normalize brain function and prevent its degeneration.
- Caffeine's neuroprotective profile and its ability to reduce amyloid-beta production.
- Caffeine as a candidate disease-modifying agent for Alzheimer's disease.
- Positive impact of caffeine on cognition and memory performance.
- Identification of adenosine A2A receptors as the main target for neuroprotection afforded by caffeine consumption.
- Epidemiological studies corroborated by meta-analysis suggesting that caffeine may be protective against Parkinson's disease.
Several methodological issues must be solved before advancing to decisive clinical trials Mendonça and Cunha also observe that "the daily follow-up of patients with AD has taught us that improvement of daily living may be a more significant indicator of amelioration than slight improvements in objective measures of memory performance. One of the most prevalent complications of AD is depression of mood, and the recent observations that caffeine might be a mood normalizer are of particular interest.
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