Study Finds Coffee Linked to Lower Risk of Dementia, But There's a Catch \ stacker news ~science

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Study Finds Coffee Linked to Lower Risk of Dementia, But There's a Catch www.sciencealert.com/study-finds-coffee-linked-to-lower-risk-of-dementia-but-theres-a-catch

329 sats \ 16 comments \ @south_korea_ln 8h science

The link was found from a study of the health records of 204,847 people in the UK, aged between 40 and 69 at the start of the study period, by researchers from institutions across China. The records included both coffee consumption habits and the diagnosis of dementia cases, over an average of nine years.

"Higher intake of caffeinated coffee, particularly the unsweetened variety, was associated with reduced risks of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and Parkinson's disease," write the researchers in their published paper. "No such associations were observed for sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened coffee."

About to have my first espresso of the day~~

Timely as I just read @Cje95's post on the link between sleeping pills and Alzheimer's: #858831

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24 sats \ 3 replies \ @Signal312 6h

I strongly doubt it's the coffee.

Instead, anybody who drinks unsweetened coffee is already probably very aware of the negative effects of sugar, and is avoiding it more than other people.

That one factor alone would cause a much lower risk of dementia, because sugar is very strongly linked to dementia.

I'd recommend reading the book The Big Fat Surprise, by Nina Teicholtz. In addition to great information on nutrition, it has some outstanding sections on how studies can be very easily manipulated and distorted, to "show" things that aren't really true.

24 sats \ 2 replies \ @south_korea_ln OP 6h

The data here isn't comprehensive enough to show a direct causal relationship. It's not clear if coffee drinking is warding off dementia, if the early stages of dementia are altering people's coffee drinking, or if there's a third unknown factor affecting both coffee intake and dementia risk.

Yes, it's just observational. And confounding variables are a thing too.

But the evidence is mounting, imo, on the benefits of drinking coffee. As well as on the negative effects of sugar. As well as the ones from highly processed food: #847242.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 5h

I think it’s the caffeine

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Signal312 6h

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the funders of these pro-coffee studies were companies somehow related to the coffee industry. Most nutritional studies are funded by corporations.