Coffee, tea, and caffeine consumption and prevention of late-life cognitive decline and dementia: A systematic review

A prolonged preclinical phase of more than two decades before the onset of dementia suggested that initial brain changes of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the symptoms of advanced AD may represent a unique continuum. Given the very limited therapeutic value of drugs currently used in the treatment of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of nutrition, health & aging health & aging, 2015-03, Vol.19 (3), p.313-328
Main Authors: Panza, Francesco, Solfrizzi, V, Barulli, M. R, Bonfiglio, C, Guerra, V, Osella, A, Seripa, D, Sabbà, C, Pilotto, A, Logroscino, G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging
Alzheimer disease
Alzheimer Disease - prevention & control
brain
caffeine
Caffeine - blood
Caffeine - pharmacology
Coffee
cognition
Cognition - drug effects
Cognition - physiology
Cognition Disorders - prevention & control
Cognitive Dysfunction - prevention & control
Dementia
Dementia - prevention & control
disease prevention
Disease Progression
dose response
Drinking
drugs
Follow-Up Studies
Geriatrics/Gerontology
Humans
long term effects
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
men
Neurosciences
Nutrition
Primary Care Medicine
protective effect
Quality of Life Research
risk factors
Sex Factors
Systematic review
Tea
women
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A prolonged preclinical phase of more than two decades before the onset of dementia suggested that initial brain changes of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the symptoms of advanced AD may represent a unique continuum. Given the very limited therapeutic value of drugs currently used in the treatment of AD and dementia, preventing or postponing the onset of AD and delaying or slowing its progression are becoming mandatory. Among possible reversible risk factors of dementia and AD, vascular, metabolic, and lifestyle-related factors were associated with the development of dementia and late-life cognitive disorders, opening new avenues for the prevention of these diseases. Among diet-associated factors, coffee is regularly consumed by millions of people around the world and owing to its caffeine content, it is the best known psychoactive stimulant resulting in heightened alertness and arousal and improvement of cognitive performance. Besides its short-term effect, some case-control and cross-sectional and longitudinal population-based studies evaluated the long-term effects on brain function and provided some evidence that coffee, tea, and caffeine consumption or higher plasma caffeine levels may be protective against cognitive impairment/decline and dementia. In particular, several cross-sectional and longitudinal population-based studies suggested a protective effect of coffee, tea, and caffeine use against late-life cognitive impairment/decline, although the association was not found in all cognitive domains investigated and there was a lack of a distinct dose-response association, with a stronger effect among women than men. The findings on the association of coffee, tea, and caffeine consumption or plasma caffeine levels with incident mild cognitive impairment and its progression to dementia were too limited to draw any conclusion. Furthermore, for dementia and AD prevention, some studies with baseline examination in midlife pointed to a lack of association, although other case-control and longitudinal population-based studies with briefer follow-up periods supported favourable effects of coffee, tea, and caffeine consumption against AD. Larger studies with longer follow-up periods should be encouraged, addressing other potential bias and confounding sources, so hopefully opening new ways for diet-related prevention of dementia and AD.
ISSN:1279-7707
1760-4788
DOI:10.1007/s12603-014-0563-8