Mounting evidence suggests that dietary caffeine intake may exert some beneficial effects in reducing dementia risk and possibly Alzheimer’s disease, and may be a viable therapeutic approach. Clinical studies also suggest that caffeine is a cognitive normalizer and not a cognitive enhancer. Moreover, some clinical studies suggest the neuroprotective effect of caffeine might be confounded by gender. Furthermore, not only is there limited research of consumption from a range of caffeine products which are available in the Irish market, there is no study to date that gives a comprehensive estimation for caffeine consumption habits in the Irish population. The aim of the proposed research is to survey caffeine habits (baseline, retrospective, and prospective) of adults and elderly of both sexes in Ireland and determine the influence of these habits on cognition and dementia risk. This study intends to strengthen this link by minimizing the potential bias and considering confounding factors that are inherent to all epidemiological studies (e.g. age, sex, education, socioeconomic status, BMI, diabetes, hypertension and other disease conditions, diet, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption).
Not funded - part of Master degree