Coffee, caffeine, and reduced risk of depression among women

January 01, 0001

Coffee, caffeine, and reduced risk of depression among women

Caffeine is the world's most widely used central nervous system stimulant, with approximately 80% consumed in the form of coffee. These US authors report on a prospective cohort study with a total of 50,739 US women (mean age, 63 years) free of depressive symptoms at baseline in 1996 and followed up through June 2006. Consumption of caffeine was measured from validated questionnaires completed from May 1, 1980, through April 1, 2004, and computed as cumulative mean consumption with a 2-year latency period applied. Clinical depression was defined as self-reported physician-diagnosed depression and antidepressant use.

They found: "During 10 years of follow-up (1996-2006), 2607 incident cases of depression were identified. Compared with women consuming 1 or less cup of caffeinated coffee per week, the multivariate relative risk of depression was 0.85 for those consuming 2 to 3 cups per day and 0.80 for those consuming 4 cups per day or more. Multivariate relative risk of depression was 0.80 for women in the highest (550 mg/d) vs lowest (<100 mg/d) of the 5 caffeine consumption categories. Decaffeinated coffee was not associated with depression risk."

The authors concluded: "In this large longitudinal study, we found that depression risk decreases with increasing caffeinated coffee consumption. Further investigations are needed to confirm this finding and to determine whether usual caffeinated coffee consumption can contribute to depression prevention."

This should be balanced against risks for adverse effects of high caffeine consumption.

For the full abstract, click here.

Arch Intern Med (17):1571-1578, 26 September 2011 © 2011 to the American Medical Association
Coffee, Caffeine, and Risk of Depression Among Women. Michel Lucas, Fariba Mirzaei, An Pan, et al. Correspondence to Dr. Albert Ascherio: aascheri@hsph.harvard.edu

Category: P. Psychological. Keywords: caffeine, coffee, depression, women, prospective cohort study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 11 October 2011

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