Coffee has many health benefits. But increase consumption overtime may increase risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia, says new research. These findings were published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

The researchers from University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy examined 1,445 individuals recruited from 5,632 subjects, aged 65-84 year old, from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Ageing (ILSA), a population-based sample from eight Italian municipalities.

The study found that cognitively normal older individuals who modified their habits by increasing with time their amount of coffee consumption ( more than a cup of coffee per day) had about two times higher rate of MCI compared to those with reduced habits (less than a cup of coffee per day). They also had about one and a half time higher rate of MCI in comparison with those with constant habits (neither more nor less than one cup of coffee per day).

The researchers also showed that both rare and higher consumption of coffee (more than 2 cups per day) were associated with higher risk of the incidence of MCI.

By Lizitha