Got coffee? Ask that question of your patients, especially the ones who could be showing the early signs of memory loss, and encourage them to drink some.
 
Older adults with minor cognitive impairment who drank about three cups' worth of caffeine were less likely to develop "full-blown Alzheimer's" disease than those who didn't have caffeine in their bloodstreams, according to a 2012 study noted in a recent New York Times article.
 
But that's not the only study cited in the article, which helps in DecisionHealth Daily's ongoing effort to bring you reasons that coffee-drinking is good for you. Other recent studies about the beverage's benefits found:
  • Mice who were briefly starved of oxygen and lost the ability to form memories regained that ability 33% faster with a dose of caffeine equivalent to several cups of coffee, according to an experiment at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
  • Of more than 400,000 volunteers ages 50 to 71 who were free of major disease in 1995, men drinking two to three cups of coffee a day were 10% less likely to have died by 2008, according to another study. Women drinking the same amount were 13% less likely.
 
So encourage your patients to drink coffee and while you're at it, pour yourself another cup while you're reading your favorite DecisionHealth newsletter.