Four cups of coffee a day could keep Alzheimer's at bay. Drinking three to five coffees daily in middle age cuts the risk of developing the disease in old age by two-thirds, a study has found.

Other studies have hinted that caffeine can protect against dementia, but the latest research stands out because it charted people's consumption over the decades before dementia appeared rather than relying on them to remember their intake. Dr Susanne Sorensen, of the Alzheimer's Society, said: 'For years we've treated coffee as nothing more than a pleasant pick-me-up.

'This is exciting as it indicates drinking coffee in midlife can actually reduce your risk.' Swedish and Finnish researchers questioned 1,500 middle-aged men and women about their tea and coffee drinking.

Twenty-one years later, there were 61 dementia cases in the group.

Analysis showed that moderate coffee drinkers were the least likely to have developed dementia.

They had a third of the risk of those with a daily consumption of up to two cups, the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease reports. Drinking tea was uncommon among those studied and was not found to affect the risk. However, coffee is not always beneficial to health.

Research released yesterday said that more than seven cups a day trebles the risk of hallucinations among the healthy.

(Agencies via China Daily January 16, 2009)