It was coffee that first helped me with my symptoms of ADHD and it has been a mainstay of my treatment. My 11 year old son drinks coffee and tea and it helps him tremendously as well. People are always amazed that an 11 year old will drink coffee but not only does he drink it, he drinks his coffee black and he likes it that way. I am convinced that he, like me is genuinely able to focus mentally much better when he is caffeinated.
It appears that the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease will devote its March issue to coffee. Several studies have been recently published that have examined cognitive deterioration and caffeine consumption. One large study found an association between coffee drinking and slower decreases in cognitive function in elderly women.
Declines in cognitive function secondary to aging are related to a decline in neurotransmitter levels in the brain. Specifically, decreases in the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine have been implicated as the biggest culprit in the cognitive function decline of elderly patients. It is the acetylcholine neurons in our prefrontal cortex that help us with our attention span, our mental focus, and with our ability to screen out distractions and caffeine produces acetylcholine release in the prefrontal cortex.
A review article in the March Alzheimer’s journal reports that the caffeine benefits seem to be related to a "change of mental energy which increases alertness, increases attention, and increases cognitive function." Coffee consumption was associated, according to the review article, with fewer symptoms of depression, fewer episodes of cognitive failure, lower risk of suicide, and improvement in the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
The review article author also suggested that the effects of coffee on ADHD had been insufficiently studied but implied that there was reason to believe, given the role of neurotransmitter malfunction in some of the afore mentioned diseases, that the beneficial effect of coffee would also improve the symptoms of ADHD.
It seems that many of the studies of cognitive function and caffeine are coming from researchers in Brazil. I do not know if this is because Brazil is a major coffee producer of if this is because Brazil has many coffee drinkers. It does not matter to me, I am happy that someone is studying the beneficial effect of this readily available therapeutic agent.
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