"Roy Gordon" <roygPERHAPSmayOUT at semantic.com> wrote in message
news:Xns924CDB7094F7Eroygsemanticcom at 208.201.224.154...
> Eric S <erics_news_addyl at yahoo.dawt.cawm> wrote in news:3D338E55.4020007
> @yahoo.dawt.cawm:
>> > Have you all seen this yet?
>> > http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,4705704%5E2,00.html>> > Looks like my current caffeine quota might need raising. Oh darn. ;^)
>> Here's the abstract of the actual study (you've got to pay for the full
> text). Of course, we coffee drinkers knew it all along, smart as we are.
>> The study compared the caffein intake of 54 persons with AD to 54 without
> AD. This number seems pretty small to me. Perhaps one of our astute
> mathematicians/statisticians would like to comment.
>> Like most other studies it will have to be confirmed/disconfirmed by
future
> work.
>> I added sci.med, sci.med.nutrition, and bionet.neuroscience in the hopes
of
> generating additional informed discussion, since this is a serious issue.
>> -- Roy
>> Does caffeine intake protect from Alzheimer's disease? [In Process
> Citation]
>> Eur J Neurol 2002 Jul;9(4):377-82 (ISSN: 1351-5101)
> Maia L; De Mendonca A
>> Caffeine is the most widely consumed behaviourally active substance in the
> western world. Neuroprotective effects of caffeine in low doses,
> chronically administered, have been shown in different experimental
models.
> If caffeine intake could protect against neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's
> disease (AD), then higher levels of caffeine consumption in normal
subjects
> as compared with AD patients should be detectable in the presumably long
> period before diagnosis when insidious pathogenic changes are taking
place.
> A case-control study was used: cases were 54 patients with probable AD
> fulfilling the National Institute of Neurologic and Communicative
Disorders
> and Stroke and the AD and Related Disorders Association criteria, in a
> Dementia Clinics setting. Controls were 54 accompanying persons,
> cognitively normal, matched for age (+/-3 years) and sex. Patients with AD
> had an average daily caffeine intake of 73.9 +/- 97.9 mg during the 20
> years that preceded diagnosis of AD, whereas the controls had an average
> daily caffeine intake of 198.7 +/- 135.7 mg during the corresponding 20
> years of their lifetimes (P < 0.001, Wilcoxon signed ranks test). Using a
> logistic regression model, caffeine exposure during this period was found
> to be significantly inversely associated with AD (odds ratio=0.40, 95%
> confidence interval=0.25-0.67), whereas hypertension, diabetes, stroke,
> head trauma, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, non-steroid anti-
> inflammatory drugs, vitamin E, gastric disorders, heart disease, education
> and family history of dementia were not statistically significantly
> associated with AD. Caffeine intake was associated with a significantly
> lower risk for AD, independently of other possible confounding variables.
> These results, if confirmed with future prospective studies, may have a
> major impact on the prevention of AD.
>> Language: English
> MEDLINE Indexing Date: 200207
> Publication Type: Status: In-Process
> Publication Type: Journal Article
> PreMedline Identifier: 0012099922
> Unique NLM Identifier: 22095203
> Journal Code: IM
granted it's just an abstract, but from reading what is there it sounds like
you the data is very confounded.
A similar observation that could have been made is that the Alzheimers
patients read the financial pages of the local newspaper significantly less
often than those without AD, and then to infer that if only you could force
those AD patients to read the financial section they might not have AD.
They might be better off financially if they didn't read the financial
pages, but I doubt it would have any other impact on there cognitive
function whether or not they read them.
ken
