Cuppa Joe?
Yessir, folks, the economy may be in shambles, the price of gas may be pushing $3.00 a gallon, and Michael Jackson may have left the building, but good news is on the horizon! Just when my brain is struggling on overload, one of my loyal blogger buddies tells me that there's a new British caffeine study on the horizon for those of us plagued by Creeping Senility!
Read it and weep (for joy):
Neuroscientist Gary Arendash, who led the research, said: "Caffeine could be a viable treatment for established Alzheimer's disease, and not simply a protective strategy. That's important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people."
Dr Arendash added that people with high blood pressure or women who are pregnant should avoid too much caffeine.
A key aspect of the disease is sticky clumps of abnormal protein in the brain called beta amyloid plaques.
Mice with the rodent equivalent of the disease showed a 50% reduction in levels of this protein after their drinking water was spiked with caffeine.
The change was reflected in their behaviour as the mice developed better memories and quicker thinking.
I think I first learned to like coffee when I was a senior in high school, working as a counselor at church camp. It was supposed to be summertime, and we packed accordingly. Then, one of those unpredictable Missouri summers turned cold, and we had NO warm clothes. The showers had no hot water, and the cabins had screened in windows. It was COLD! The only warm thing in the whole camp was -- you guessed it! Coffee! I would get a cup at breakfast and warm my hands on it. Gradually, gradually, I developed a liking for it.
None of my three children drink coffee and neither does my sister, but they have orders to have it on hand when I visit. Otherwise, the day turns ugly fast!
All my life I've heard how coffee is bad for us, so what's the deal?
My trouble with the British findings is: Why doesn't all this coffee drinking improve my memory? Here are a few of the things I forget:
* Passwords for debit cards, online accounts...you name it...
* Location of my glasses...
* Location of two of the THREE REMOTES now necessary to operate my television set. Why not three, you ask? Well, my son gave me a keyfinder, which he taped to the TV remote, so it screeches at me every time it hears a shrill noise. I occasionally banish it to the laundry room so I can get some peace and quiet. That's no problem, since it's for my non-digital set & is practically useless anyway...
* The date that my magazine subscriptions expire - That's why I will be getting U.S. News & World Report until 2021...(You think I made this up, don't you?)
* Whether I've paid the electric bill...
* When I need to turn in my time sheet...
* Whether I took my blood pressure pills...
* The date when I bought new tires...
* Where I wrote down the date when I bought new tires...
* What I did with the grocery list...
* Names, names, names!!!
I'm sure I could go on, but you get the idea.
The point that just occurred to me is this: If I'm this forgetful ON coffee, how bad would I be if I DIDN'T drink it???
From the quiet streets of Advance, Missouri, population 1244, this is your rural reporter, Madeline, wishing she had a good, strong cuppa coffee to get through the afternoon...
Comments
- -- Posted by Dexterite1 on Tue, Jul 7, 2009, at 2:01 PM
- -- Posted by goat lady on Tue, Jul 7, 2009, at 3:52 PM
- -- Posted by FJGuy on Tue, Jul 7, 2009, at 11:36 PM
- -- Posted by mythought on Wed, Jul 8, 2009, at 9:19 AM
- -- Posted by Ducky on Wed, Jul 8, 2009, at 2:55 PM
- -- Posted by goat lady on Wed, Jul 8, 2009, at 3:51 PM
- -- Posted by FJGuy on Wed, Jul 8, 2009, at 8:39 PM
- -- Posted by goat lady on Wed, Jul 8, 2009, at 9:24 PM
- -- Posted by mrsdolphin on Wed, Jul 8, 2009, at 11:28 PM
- -- Posted by lovebooks on Thu, Jul 9, 2009, at 8:42 AM
- -- Posted by goat lady on Thu, Jul 9, 2009, at 5:39 PM
- -- Posted by lovebooks on Fri, Jul 10, 2009, at 8:10 AM
- -- Posted by SKDellinger on Sun, Jul 12, 2009, at 9:37 AM
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