A simple cup of coffee

One cup can certainly sharpen you up, but the effects of drinking a coffee may be surprisingly longerlasting, according to new research. A recent study suggests it may help with Alzheimer\'s. Scientists at the University of California found over-65s drinking coffee at least five times a week reduced their memory loss by up to 20 per cent compared with those who did not drink it at all.

One cup can certainly sharpen you up, but the effects of drinking a coffee may be surprisingly longerlasting, according to new research. In a study published this month suggesting it may help with Alzheimer's, scientists at the University of California found over-65s drinking coffee at least five times a week reduced their memory loss by up to 20 per cent compared with those who did not drink it at all.

It is the latest in a long list of medical benefits linked to coffee, largely as a result of the high concentration of antioxidants found in the drink.

So what other conditions can it ease or help prevent? Here we list the latest scientific studies:

New research from the University of Utah shows coffee may play a role in lowering the risk of oral and pharynx cancer. Screening 5,000 cancer patients and 9,000 healthy people, scientists found those drinking four cups or more a day were 39 per cent less likely to develop the cancers.

In 2008 in Japan a 13-year study of almost 40,000 people revealed a daily cup of coffee may cut the risk of mouth and oesophageal cancers. Regular coffee-drinkers were half as likely to be affected as non-drinkers.

Earlier this year researchers at Imperial College London published a study of 300 people with glioma, a brain tumour, discovering that those with a five-a-day coffee habit were 40 per cent less likely to develop this form of cancer.

Research suggests coffee may cut the risk of a range of other cancers.

A 2009 Harvard Medical School study suggests that coffee may be able to prevent or slow cancers of the prostate.

It found that the heavi est coffee-drinkers had 60 per cent l ess ri sk of a g g r e s s i v e tumours than men who did not drink coffee at all. Coffee affects how we break down sugar and sex hormone levels; both have been linked to prostate cancer.

Women drinking at least two cups of coffee a day may have less risk of endometrial cancer (tumours in the lining of the uterus), according to a 2009 study by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, which found that coffee seems to especially protect overweight women.

Some studies have linked the antioxidant compound methyl pyri di ni um, found almost exclusively in coffee, to reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

Professor Thomas Hofmann, of the Institute for Food Chemistry, the University of Munster, Germany, says: 'No one knows exactly how much coffee is needed for the effect, but our studies suggest it may give some protection, especially if it is strong.' He says espresso coffee has two to

three times more of the anti-cancer compound than a medium roast.

In Italy a study of more than 4,000 elderly people found those drinking four or more cups of coffee daily were less likely to develop Parkinson's. The theory is that caffeine reduces the amount of neuro-transmitters the brain produces that may do damage to its surrounding tissue.

Coffee may also be an effective analgesic for the same reason. Studies have shown it can stave off headaches and migraines, thanks to caffeine's painkilling effects. Many leading painkillers now contain up to 120mg of caffeine, equal to a large cup of coffee, along with other analgesics such as paracetamol.

Last month a 13-year study of 40,000 people in Holland found two to four cups of coffee a day cuts the risk of heart disease by 20 per cent. 'Research suggests coffee is beneficial for certain cardiovascular problems,' says physiologist Dr Mark Hamer of University College London. 'How it works isn't well understood, but it is packed with beneficial components, including antioxidant flavonoids, thought to protect the heart by reducing low-grade inflammation in the body, and also to improve how the body deals with glucose, which may offer protection against diabetes.'

Clive Page, professor of pharmacology at King's College London, says coffee can help lung function and against asthma. He says: 'Caffeine inhibits enzymes in muscle surrounding the airway, causing it to relax, not constrict, in an attack. Treatments for asthma or such smoking-related conditions as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have been developed from observing benefits of coffee.'

Coffee enhances exercise. In 2003 the Australian Institute of Sport found cyclists who drank coffee pedalled a third longer than those on water. Caffeine also signals to muscles to draw energy from the body's fat instead of carbohydrate sugars, and can help dull the pain of a workout.