Two to three daily cups of caffeinated coffee tied to lower dementia risk in long U.S. study
A long-running study of U.S. adults, with follow-up of up to 43 years, found that regular caffeinated coffee was associated with a substantially lower risk of dementia and better cognitive health with age. The strongest associations were among people who drank two to three cups of caffeinated coffee a day. That relationship was seen regardless of genetic risk of dementia; drinking more than that range was not necessarily better.
Among adults who drank higher amounts of caffeinated coffee, researchers recorded 141 new dementia cases per 100,000 people each year, compared with 330 per 100,000 among those who rarely or never drank it. Dementia is a general term for conditions that progressively impair memory, thinking, reasoning and daily function; Alzheimer’s disease is its most common cause. The study reports an association, not proof that coffee prevents dementia, and other differences between drinkers and non-drinkers could help explain the results.
Benefits were not limited to diagnosed dementia. About 7.8 percent of adults with higher caffeinated-coffee intake reported subjective cognitive decline—self-noticed changes in memory or thinking that need not be confirmed by formal tests—versus 9.5 percent of those who rarely or never drank it. Decaffeinated coffee did not show the same association, raising the possibility that caffeine helps explain the link. Tea was also tied to better cognitive outcomes, though the amount linked to the greatest benefit was somewhat lower.
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