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Caffeine Intake is Associated with a Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline: A Cohort Study from Portugal

Issue title: Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Disorders

Guest editors: Rodrigo A. Cunhax and Alexandre de Mendonçay

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Santos, Catarinaa; * | Lunet, Nunoa | Azevedo, Anaa | de Mendonça, Alexandreb | Ritchie, Karenc | Barros, Henriquea

Affiliations: [a] Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Porto University Medical School and Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto (ISPUP), Porto, Portugal | [b] Department of Neurology and Laboratory of Neurosciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal | [c] Nervous System Pathologies: Epidemiological and Clinical Research, La Colombière Hospital, Montpellier, France | [x] Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology of Coimbra and Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal | [y] Institute of Molecular Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Catarina Santos, Serviço de Higiene e Epidemiologia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal. Tel.: +351 225513652; Fax: +351 225 513 653; E-mail: catarina-santos@portugalmail.pt.

Keywords: Caffeine, cohort studies, dementia, gender

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-2010-091303

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 20, no. s1, pp. S175-S185, 2010

Published: 14 April 2010
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Abstract

Alzheimer's disease has emerged in recent decades as a major health problem and the role of lifestyles in the modulation of risk has been increasingly recognized. Recent epidemiological studies suggest a protective effect for caffeine intake in dementia. We aimed to quantify the association between caffeine dietary intake and cognitive decline, in a cohort of adults living in Porto. A cohort of 648 subjects aged ⩾65 years was recruited between 1999–2003. Follow-up evaluation (2005–2008) was carried out on 58.2% of the eligible participants and 10.9% were deceased. Caffeine exposure in the year preceding baseline evaluation was assessed with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Cognitive evaluation consisted of baseline and follow-up Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Cognitive decline was defined by a decrease ⩾ 2 points in the MMSE score between evaluations. Relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) estimates adjusted for age, education, smoking, alcohol drinking, body mass index, hypertension, and diabetes were computed using Poisson regression. Caffeine intake (> 62 mg/day [3rd third] vs. < 22 mg/day [1st third]) was associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline in women (RR=0.49, 95%CI 0.24–0.97), but not significantly in men (RR=0.65, 95%CI 0.27–1.54). Our study confirms the negative association between caffeine and cognitive decline in women.

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