
Evidence caffeine may slow Alzheimer's disease and other dementias - MaysonL
http://iospress.metapress.com/content/t13614762731/
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metamemetics
Not as much as nicotine though. NON-smokers are shown to be 50% more likely to
develop Alzheimer's (controlling for increased mortality).

They are both stimulants with effects upon the acetylcholine system. One of
the receptors weakly stimulated by nicotine but a target for research into
treaments for Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, Parkinsons, ADHD as well as
nootropics is the Alpha 7 Nicotinic receptor. If you hear of any alpha 7
nicotinic receptor agonists pharmaceuticals that are well tolerated in humans
with few side effects, I would invest heavily.

~~~
anigbrowl
I wonder if smoking-cessation products like nicotine lozenges and so on might
start to get off-label prescriptions as has happened with some other drugs.
One issue they all have is their lack of a quick release, which is what most
smokers are seeking (guilty :-/ ).

~~~
metamemetics
The problem with nicotine, and part of the reason its so addictive, is its
extremely short half lfie (2hours). However there are studies showing
improvement in cognitive impairments with nicotine patches.

One medication currently used for alzheimer's is Galantamine (
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galantamine> ) which raises general
acetylcholine levels as well as increasing nicotinic acetylcholine activity
specifically.

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anigbrowl
An interesting collection of articles. It's worth noting (as they do in the
preface) that the research symposium was sponsored by the Portuguese Coffee
producer's association, but the research is none the less interesting for
that. I'd certainly rather spend $1/day on coffee as a gentle prophylactic
than on what is now still experimental Alzheimer's mitigation medication.

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car
May I counter with this: [http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20100428/panel-
no-evide...](http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20100428/panel-no-evidence-
alzheimers-prevention)

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klochner
I didn't need more encouragement.

~~~
percept
For your health, man--your health!

