New findings about coffee effects on human health, released recently by Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, reveal that a good cup of coffee can positively effect persons with Parkinson's as well as Alzheimer diseases.

Caffeine is by far and away the world’s most widespread psychoactive stimulant. At least 70% of the adult population consumes caffeine every day in the forms of coffee, tea, energy drinks or other food and drink. The health benefits of caffeine are now being supported by research and include effects on cognitive ability among the elderly, as well as on Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

Although scientists agree that coffee drinking is detrimental during pregnancy, according to Bertil Fredholm, Professor of Pharmacology at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at KI, people who worry about developing Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease can safely continue to drink their morning java jolt. Moreover, among an array of benefits, caffeine can help the body’s immunological defenses against tumors.

"Both Parkinson and Alzheimer's disease involve a loss of functionality of the nerves in the brain. Coffee can prevent the loss of precisely those neurons that are important to control the motor. The neuronal loss that can be obtained with these diseases may be counteracted by caffeine," states Fredholm.

Source: www.blocket.se, www.ki.se