Caffeine may have protective effects on

the brain

Coffee consumption may be associated with a lower risk of developing multiple

sclerosis (MS), according to a study that has been presented at the 67th annual meeting
of the American Academy of Neurology .
"Caffeine consumption has been associated with a lower risk of Parkinson's and
Alzheimer's disease and our study shows that coffee intake may also protect against
MS, supporting the idea that may have protective effects on the brain," says the study
author Ellen Mowry, of Johns Hopkins University (USA).

Researchers analyzed a Swedish study of 1,629 people with MS and 2,807 healthy
people, and research in the US of 1,159 people with MS and 1,172 healthy people. The
paper analyzed the coffee consumption among people with MS one and five years
before they began MS symptoms (like ten years before MS symptoms were initiated in
the Swedish study) and compared it with the intake of coffee of people who had MS in
similar time periods. The authors also took into account other factors such as age, sex,
smoking, body mass index and sun exposure habits.

Fewer symptoms

The Swedish research revealed that compared with people who drank at least six cups of
coffee a day during the year before the appearance of symptoms, non-drinkers had about
15 times the risk of developing MS. Drinking large amounts of coffee between five and
ten years before the onset of symptoms was equally protective.

In the US study, individuals who did not drink coffee also had nearly 1.5 times
more likely to develop the disease than those who drank four or more cups of
coffee per day during the year before the symptoms started.

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Publicado 2nd March 2015 por Jorge Garca