Moderate Mocha Coffee Consumption Is Associated with Higher Cognitive and Mood Status in a Non-Demented Elderly Population with Subcortical Ischemic Vascular Disease

Abstract

To date, interest in the role of coffee intake in the occurrence and course of age-related neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders has provided an inconclusive effect. Moreover, no study has evaluated mocha coffee consumption in subjects with mild vascular cognitive impairment and late-onset depression. We assessed the association between different quantities of mocha coffee intake over the last year and cognitive and mood performance in a homogeneous sample of 300 non-demented elderly Italian subjects with subcortical ischemic vascular disease. Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Stroop Colour-Word Interference Test (Stroop T), 17-items Hamilton Depression Rating Scalfe (HDRS), Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and Instrumental ADL were the outcome measures. MMSE, HDRS, and Stroop T were independently and significantly associated with coffee consumption, i.e., better scores with increasing intake. At the post-hoc analyses, it was found that the group with a moderate intake (two cups/day) had similar values compared to the heavy drinkers (≥three cups/day), with the exception of MMSE. Daily mocha coffee intake was associated with higher cognitive and mood status, with a significant dose-response association even with moderate consumption. This might have translational implications for the identification of modifiable factors for vascular dementia and geriatric depression.

Vascular Dementia and Underlying Sex Differences

“…Researchers discovered a significant difference in age and education among the four groups of subjects based on their daily mocha coffee consumption. However, the General Regression Model revealed that the associations between coffee consumption and cognition and mood were independent of socio-demographic variables ( Fisicaro et al, 2021 ). In terms of the sex-related effect, an earlier prospective study ( Shinoda et al, 2015 ) of 455 participants (314 men) found that male drinkers had a lower incidence of small vessel disease than male non-drinkers and occasional drinkers, while female drinkers had a lower incidence of white matter lesions (WMLs) than female non-drinkers or occasional drinkers.…”

Gender difference in association between H-type hypertension and subcortical ischemic vascular disease

“…Fourthly, the lack of a group of patients with H-type hypertension but no SIVD prevented a deeper analysis of the effects of gender differences. Finally, in addition to the risk factor for SIVD and the role of H-type hypertension, future study may also consider the effect of protective factors in this population, such as the role of caffeine or acetyl-L-carnitine intake on mood and cognition ( Pennisi et al, 2020 ; Fisicaro et al, 2021 ).…”

Examples of Inverse Comorbidity between Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Possible Role for Noncoding RNA

“…First, interventions that slow the hallmarks of aging will decrease the risk of both groups of diseases. It has been consistently shown that a healthy lifestyle and metabolism can decrease the risk of both cancer and cognitive decline [ 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ]. In addition, related interventions are known to decrease markers of inflammation, improve mitochondrial health and decrease oxidative stress [ 67 , 68 ].…”