This is a new possible treatment avenue for Alzheimer’s disease: a team of Inserm researchers has just revealed the benefits of caffeine in the face of the risk of developing a neurodegenerative disease linked to aging.
With a consumption of 5.4 kg of coffee per year and per capita, France ranks 6th in terms of daily coffee drinkers… in the world. So if coffee is also an addictive drink, full of virtues, why deprive yourself of it? Thus, we knew, with scientific evidence to support it, that regular coffee drinkers had a lower risk of developing diabetes, because their blood sugar levels rise less compared to those who do not drink coffee. We also learned about the benefits for the heart, since no increased risk of cardiovascular disease has ever been demonstrated in coffee drinkers. In addition, coffee contains antioxidant molecules whose protective effect against cancer is possible.
A team from the Lille Neurosciences and Cognition research center had discovered in 2022 the beneficial impact of coffee consumption on memory . According to David Blum’s team from Inserm in Lille, caffeine could improve learning and memory abilities by modifying the molecular functioning of cells in the hippocampus, the seat of memory in the brain. Indeed, according to the researchers, caffeine could improve memory by modifying the molecular functioning of cells in the hippocampus, the seat of memory in the brain. The laboratory continued its research into the cognitive functions of early Alzheimer’s patients. Bingo, this Friday, July 5, a real new therapeutic avenue has just been published in the scientific journal Brain.
Two studies that respond to each other
In this new study, which responds to the first, Inserm, with the Lille University Hospital and the University have taken a further step in understanding the mechanisms that lead to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. It was within the Lille Neurosciences and Cognition research center that it was highlighted how the pathological increase in certain receptors and neurons at the time of the development of the disease could promote the loss of synapses, resulting in the early development of memory disorders. This work carried out on the animal model confirms the interest in conducting clinical trials on humans, to measure the effects of caffeine on the brain of patients at an early stage of the disease.
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“This new study shows the mechanism that leads to a worsening of memory disorders, it describes the phenomenon, but above all it confirms the interest of the therapeutic avenues that we had revealed in our previous work, insists David Blum, research director at Inserm, co-author of the study. Thus, we highlight the interest of testing caffeine in the context of a clinical trial, with sick people. We can imagine that by blocking these receptors whose activity is increased in the patient, caffeine can prevent the development of memory disorders, and other cognitive and behavioral symptoms.” The clinical trial began in Lille with a cohort of volunteer patients and… coffee drinkers.
