GENETIC MUTATION LINKED TO ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
In other news, an international team of researchers has spotted a genetic mutation which increases the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease by 44% and is carried by roughly 25% of the American and European populations that were studied.
The mutation takes place in a gene called CALHM1. It controls a microscopic valve […]

BETA-AMYLOID
A team led by Dr. Dennis Selkoe and Dr. Ganesh Shankar of Harvard Medical School have found that people with Alzheimer’s Disease have a plaque made up of a sticky protein called beta-amyloid covering their brains, specifically the two-molecule form of soluble beta-amyloid.
What the scientists did was to take the beta-amyloid from the brains of […]

MY PERSONAL LINK TO ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
There’s been a lot in the news lately about Alzheimer’s Disease.
This subject is very near and dear to my heart. I watched my grandfather go through the ravages of the disease and even when I was young, my nickname was the Absent-Minded Professor, so I’m paranoid about developing it myself. […]

INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE
Along with blood pressure, coffee drinking also elevates intraocular pressure, the main cause of optic nerve damage for people suffering from glaucoma (Caffeine and intraocular pressure in a Nigerian population. Journal of Glaucoma, 10(1):25-31).
To make matters worse, magnesium deficiency, which is linked to glaucoma, is made worse by coffee drinking, which inhibits absorption […]

DECREASED MENTAL FUNCTION
Drinking coffee increases homocysteine levels, which correlates with lower cognitive function in otherwise normal men over the age of 60 (Homocysteine: a marker for cognitive performance? A longitudinal follow-up study. The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging. 7(3):153-9).
While Alzheimer’s Disease has not been proven to directly correlate to coffee consumption, coffee consumption does […]