Coffee shown to prevent brain damage in diabetics, protect against memory loss

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The caffeine in coffee has been shown in one study to help prevent memory loss in advanced diabetes.

Researchers in Portugal have found that the consumption of caffeine could protect against memory loss associated with advanced diabetes.

It’s an area of study that’s not well developed, say scientists from the University of Coimbra: how badly managed type 2 diabetes — which accounts for 90 percent of all diabetic cases in the world — affects the brain, causing memory loss and learning problems.

After observing the effects of type 2 diabetes in mice, researchers found that the neurodegeneration caused by the chronic illness exhibited the same stages of several other neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

For their study, released this week and published on PLoS One, researchers compared four groups of mice: diabetics, normal, with and without caffeine.

The results showed that pumping caffeine — equal to eight cups of coffee a day — in the diabetic mice accomplished several things: reduced weight gain, lowered blood sugar levels and prevented memory loss specifically in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that often atrophies in diabetics.

Mice with type 2 diabetes exhibited abnormalities in their synapses which facilitates communication between neurons, and astrogliosis, a phenomenon in which there’s an abnormal increase of cells surrounding neurons.

But mice fed a diet high in caffeine fared better than their counterparts suffering from less brain damage, a finding that could have wider implications in the treatment of other cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Despite the findings, researchers stopped short of advising people to drink eight cups of coffee a day.

Said researcher Rodrigo Cunha in a statement: “Indeed, the dose of caffeine shown to be effective is just too excessive. All we can take from here is that a moderate consumption of caffeine should afford a moderate benefit, but still a benefit.”

Meanwhile, a 2010 study also found that caffeinated products like coffee and tea could likewise help prevent the onset of diabetes, after the mice in the their experiment developed better insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar levels.

Read more: NYDailyNews

More specialist nurses to enjoy monthly cash incentives

SHAH ALAM: More specialist nurses will enjoy monthly cash incentives, as the government bids to encourage more nurses to specialise in 26 fields of healthcare.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said there was a shortage of specialist or special care nurses, with only 21,814 nurses having post-basic qualifications from a total of 96,598.

To encourage them to specialise, he said the government had expanded the list of critical care and clinical specialisation to 26 fields from the initial 18.

Liow said a post-basic certificate was equivalent to an advanced diploma, and the added skills and knowledge would help nurses care for their patients better.

“Since October 2007, the government has approved post-basic incentive payments of RM100 per month to all nurses attached to the Health Ministry who hold post-basic certificates in one of the 18 fields of critical care and clinical specialisation.

“We are now expanding it to another eight fields, and this takes effect on April 1 (last month),” he said at the International Nurses Day celebration here.

The eight additional specialisations are in the field of infection-control treatment, HIV/AIDS counselling, diabetes management, gastrointestinal endoscopy, primary healthcare, rehabilitation, forensics and sports medicine.

The initial 18 fields include specialisations in the field of intensive care unit, midwifery, public health and cardiac care unit.

“If you don’t have the certificate, please take the course. Upgrade yourself. It is a six-month to one year course,” said Liow.

On a related matter, Liow said the Health Ministry had applied to the Public Services Department to hire 9,000 more nurses.

“There is a shortage. We have currently some 66,000 nurses (in public service) and we are asking for 9,000 more,” he said.

Asked if there were enough nursing graduates, Liow said many trainees will be graduating from 113 training institutions, colleges and universities soon.

“Of that number, 75 colleges offer diplomas in nursing,” he said.

The Star