Tell this to the next nudnik who gives you a hard time for sucking down a cup of joe: A study of mice suggests that coffee could reverse symptoms of Alzheimer’s and prevent the onset of dementia. Old mice that consumed the equivalent of five cups of coffee a day showed improved cognitive function, and some young mice, when properly juiced, managed to avoid the disease altogether.
BBC:
When the mice were tested again after two months, those who were given the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills and performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia.
Those drinking plain water continued to do poorly on the tests.
[…] Earlier research by the same team had shown younger mice, who had also been bred to develop Alzheimer’s but who were given caffeine in their early adulthood, were protected against the onset of memory problems.