Dr. Xuesong Chen and colleagues from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of North Dakota report in the *Journal of Neuroinflammation* that drinking one cup of coffee daily can effectively prevent Alzheimer's disease. They found that caffeine in coffee can prevent the damage to brain nerves caused by high cholesterol, and the side effects of high cholesterol are believed to be related to Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers had the experimental rabbits ingest 3 mg of caffeine daily, equivalent to a person of average size drinking one cup of coffee per day. During this period, the rabbits also consumed a cholesterol-containing diet. After 12 weeks, laboratory tests showed that the blood-brain barrier of the rabbits that ingested caffeine daily was denser. The blood-brain barrier can prevent certain substances from reaching the nervous system through the bloodstream, and previous studies have shown that high cholesterol can damage the blood-brain barrier, leading to brain nerve damage such as Alzheimer's disease.
The researchers said this is the first time they have found that long-term caffeine intake can protect the blood-brain barrier from damage caused by cholesterol. The study also confirmed that caffeine intake can delay memory decline caused by aging or Alzheimer's disease. The main symptom of Alzheimer's disease is memory impairment, which gradually worsens. Among people over 65 years old, 6% to 10% suffer from dementia, two-thirds of which are Alzheimer's disease.