Caffeine intake cuts women's memory loss risk- Study

Boozing more than three cups of coffee everyday may help protect older women against some age-related memory decline, a new study by French researchers has discovered.

The French study, study published in August 7 issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, suggests that a daily dose of caffeine, the active ingredient in coffee, may help older women without dementia retain verbal-retrieval skills, delaying symptoms of mild forms of cognitive decline.

However, the researchers witnessed the benefits of caffeine in women only. They didn't find the same results in men. In the latest study, caffeine consumption was not even found to prevent dementia, a neuro-degenerative disease.

"The more coffee one drank, the better the effects seemed to be on (women's) memory functioning in particular," said the study's lead author, Dr. Karen Ritchie of INSERM, the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research in Montpellier, France.

To reach their findings, Ritchie and her colleagues looked at 7,000 people- 4,197 women and 2,820 men- in three French cities. Researchers then examined their health and mental function and inquired them about their current and past eating and drinking habits, their friends, and their daily activities.

After evaluating their cognitive abilities and caffeine consumption for more than four years, the researchers found that older women who drank a couple of cups of coffee or tea a day had stronger thinking skills and memory than those who did not.

They noticed that the benefits increased with age. Women coffee drinkers, who consumed more than three cups of the beverage a day, were 30 per cent less likely to have memory decline at age 65, while the women in their 80s were 70 per cent less likely to have a failing memory.

However, the male study subjects did not appear to receive the same beneficial effect from the caffeine. The lack of similarly protective effect in men, the researchers say could be due to the way different sexes metabolize caffeine or how their different bodies react to the stimulant.

"Our best guess is that women don't metabolize coffee in the same way (as men)," Ritchie said.

Researchers urge for further studies before recommending the current findings as a public-health measure.

Although the novel study did not find caffeine’s beneficial effects in men, but some earlier studies have shown positive effects of this stimulant in males. A study published in February in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition linked the caffeine intake with lower rate of cognitive decline in men.

The study involved 676 healthy men, and after a 10-year follow-up found that regular coffee drinkers had a lower rate of cognitive decline than those who didn't consume coffee. Those who drank three cups daily had the least signs of decline.