Coffee Prevents Multiple Sclerosis

transcript

Coffee PreventsMultiple Sclerosis

www.BuyOrganicCoffee.org

http://buyorganiccoffee.org/1608/coffee-prevents-multiple-sclerosis/

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.

In 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.

Coffee Prevents Multiple Sclerosis

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