It seems that every month or so another health benefit of drinking coffee is reported. This time Newsweek reports that coffee can lower risk for MS (multiple sclerosis) when consumed at four cups a day or more.
A new study finds drinking generous amounts of coffee-more than four cups a day-may reduce a person’s risk for multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune condition in which the body’s immune system attacks the protective layers around nerves of the brain and spine. The findings, more proof that your daily Americano has neuroprotective benefits, were published March 3 online in the Journal of Neurology & Psychiatry. The study found drinking lots of coffee reduces risk for MS by as much as 31 percent.
For the observational study, researchers looked at data from two population studies conducted in Sweden and the U.S. The study out of Sweden involved 1,620 people with MS and 2,788 controls, while the one conducted in the U.S. was based upon 1,159 people with MS and 1,172 controls.
n general, lower risk for MS was associated with high coffee consumption compared with non–coffee drinkers. The Swedish researchers observed the highest level of neuroprotective benefit in people who consumed more than six cups a day, while the U.S. study suggested similar effects in members of the cohort who consumed at least four cups.
The researchers believe it’s worthwhile to conduct further investigations to explore whether compounds that exist in coffee could provide treatment for people with MS-specifically if the health benefits stem from the caffeine or certain molecules in coffee itself. Additional studies would also need to examine if, and potentially how, coffee interrupts MS disease activity.
The benefits of coffee in the case of MS are similar to those see for type II diabetes, various forms of cancer, depression, etc. The more coffee you drink the better the benefit gets. This study like many others is on observational study in which behavior such as drinking coffee is reported and recorded over the years and compared with the emergence of a given disease such as multiple sclerosis. Cause and effect studies on humans require that people in a randomized study drink or avoid coffee for years and then the results are tallied again. However, physiological studies on animals are useful.
When Mice Drink Coffee
A study on mice shows than when the furry critters drink coffee that caffeine reduces the impact of neuroinflamation and demyelization (nerve sheath damage that happens in MS). PubMed published the abstract for an article about neuroinflammation and demyelination and suggests that caffeine treatment could improve or help prevent MS.
Caffeine treatment augmented A1AR expression on microglia, with ensuing reduction of EAE severity, which was further enhanced by concomitant treatment with the A1AR agonist, adenosine amine congener. Thus, modulation of neuroinflammation by the A1AR represents a novel mechanism that provides new therapeutic opportunities for MS and other demyelinating diseases.
This is a mouthful but the bottom line is that caffeine stimulates the production of substances that help reduce inflammation, of nerves in this case, and help prevent disease. While we know from human studies that coffee prevents multiple sclerosis when consumed at 4 or more cups a day there is basic research that demonstrates how this might happen at a molecular and physiologic level. So, enjoy your healthy organic coffee as we add one more good reason to drink coffee, aside from aroma, taste and a morning wakeup.