Coffee could protect against MS, study says

Coffee drinkers may be at less risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new research.

To be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 67th Annual Meeting in April, the research was based upon a review of two separate studies - one in Sweden involving 1,629 people with MS and 2,807 healthy people, and another from the US that included 1,159 people with MS and 1,172 healthy people.

Both studies characterised the amount of coffee consumed by people with MS one and five years before they began displaying symptoms of the disease, which affects nerves in the brain and spinal cord. This was compared to consumption among people who didn't have MS over the same time periods.

Researchers also considered a range of other factors, such as BMI, gender, age and smoking habits.

In the Swedish study, it was discovered that the risk of developing MS was 1.5 times higher among those who did not drink coffee, compared to people who drank a minimum of six cups per day. The risk was found to be similarly reduced for people drinking large amounts of coffee five or ten years before the symptoms presented.

Likewise, the US research found non-coffee drinkers were approximately 1.5 times more likely to develop MS than people who drank four or more cups of coffee a day in the year before symptoms were noticed.

Study author Ellen Mowry, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, commented: "Caffeine intake has been associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, and our study shows that coffee intake may also protect against MS, supporting the idea that the drug may have protective effects for the brain."ADNFCR-554-ID-801777719-ADNFCR

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