As dedicated coffee drinker, I don't really need more reasons to drink more of the heavenly drink! There are some negatives for some, like difficulty getting to sleep after drinking regular coffee, but more studies seem to show benefits from coffee, both from regular, and also from decaffe. A recent study by the University of Illinois now shows that caffeine may block inflammation linked to mild cognitive impairment "We have discovered a novel signal that activates the brain-based inflammation associated with neurodegenerative diseases, and caffeine appears to block its activity. This discovery may eventually lead to drugs that could reverse or inhibit mild cognitive impairment," said Gregory Freund, a professor in the U of I's College of Medicine and a member of the U of I's Division of Nutritional Sciences. Freund's team examined the effects of caffeine on memory formation in two groups of mice—one group given caffeine, the other receiving none. The two groups were then exposed to hypoxia, simulating what happens in the brain during an interruption of breathing or blood flow, and then allowed to recover.
As dedicated coffee drinker, I don't really need more reasons to drink more of the heavenly drink! There are some negatives for some, like difficulty getting to sleep after drinking regular coffee, but more studies seem to show benefits from coffee, both from regular, and also from decaffe. A recent study by the University of Illinois now shows that caffeine may block inflammation linked to mild cognitive impairment
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"We have discovered a novel signal that activates the brain-based inflammation associated with neurodegenerative diseases, and caffeine appears to block its activity. This discovery may eventually lead to drugs that could reverse or inhibit mild cognitive impairment," said Gregory Freund, a professor in the U of I's College of Medicine and a member of the U of I's Division of Nutritional Sciences.
Freund's team examined the effects of caffeine on memory formation in two groups of mice—one group given caffeine, the other receiving none. The two groups were then exposed to hypoxia, simulating what happens in the brain during an interruption of breathing or blood flow, and then allowed to recover.
The caffeine-treated mice recovered their ability to form a new memory 33 percent faster than the non-caffeine-treated mice. In fact, caffeine had the same anti-inflammatory effect as blocking IL-1 signaling. IL-1 is a critical player in the inflammation associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, he said.
"It's not surprising that the insult to the brain that the mice experienced would cause learning memory to be impaired. But how does that occur?" he wondered.
The scientists noted that the hypoxic episode triggered the release of adenosine by brain cells.
"Your cells are little powerhouses, and they run on a fuel called ATP that's made up of molecules of adenosine. When there's damage to a cell, adenosine is released," he said.
Just as gasoline leaking out of a tank poses a danger to everything around it, adenosine leaking out of a cell poses a danger to its environment, he noted.
Cappuccino love photo by R Greenway, ENN.
Read more at EurekAlert.
