By The Survivors Club Staff
July 6, 2009

It's a good time to be a mouse with Alzheimer's disease...

New research on mice suggests that caffeine, the chemical in tea, coffee and soft drinks might have potential as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. 

Specifically, the research found that drinking the equivalent of five cups of coffee per day (or, gulp, 20 soft drinks) could reverse memory problems associated with Alzheimer's.

The study was done by researchers from the University of South Florida in the US, and Saitama Medical University in Japan. It was published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

The following Q&A comes from The Guardian of London:

What do we know already?

Long-term studies have shown that people who regularly drink two to three cups of coffee daily seem less likely to get Alzheimer's disease. But with these types of studies, it's hard to single out one particular cause. For example, older people who regularly attend coffee mornings probably drink more coffee, but they are also probably less socially isolated, and get out of the house more. Any of these things could affect how well your memory works in later life.

That's one reason why researchers do animal studies. Using mice, it's much easier to control anything that might affect the results of research, including genes and environment.

Studies of caffeine in mice have shown promise before. Mice that were genetically bred to get a condition similar to Alzheimer's disease show fewer signs of memory loss and confusion if they're given caffeinated water throughout their lives.

In this latest study, mice that had been bred with the dementia gene, that had grown older and were showing signs of memory loss and confusion, were given a four to five week course of caffeinated water, to see if it helped improve their memories.

What does the new study say?

The mice did much better on memory tests (using mazes) after their course of caffeinated water, compared with tests before treatment. They improved to the point that they were doing as well as mice the same age that didn't have the dementia gene. And they did much better than mice with the dementia gene that had just had normal tap water, who continued to do worse on tests.

The researchers also looked at the brains of the mice, after the experiment. The mice that had been treated with caffeine had much less amyloid beta protein in their brains, compared with the mice that had not been treated. This is the substance that is thought to cause damage to the brain in Alzheimer's disease. This shows that it wasn't just the stimulant effect of the caffeine that improved mice memories. Previous studies by the same researchers have shown that caffeine seems to protect against the formation of this substance in the brains of mice with the dementia gene.

How reliable are the findings?

The study was well designed to give reliable findings in mice. However, it's important to be cautious when we look at the results of animal studies. We simply don't know whether the same thing would happen if we gave caffeine to people with dementia. There's a big difference between treating mice that have been specifically bred with one dementia gene, and treating people with dementia.

What does this mean for me?

At the moment, this study isn't relevant to people. The researchers hope to start a study soon, to see whether caffeine can help people with mild memory loss or early Alzheimer's disease.

The amount of caffeine given to the mice was the equivalent of around 5 cups of coffee a day. That amount is safe for most people, although pregnant women and people with certain heart conditions are advised to restrict or cut out caffeine.

For more information about surviving Alzheimer's disease, please visit The Survivors Club Alzheimer-Dementia Support Center.