Caffeine can reverse Alzheimer's

(NBC) - Coffee drinkers may want to pour themselves another cup.

An American scientist claims caffeine can reverse the effects of Alzheimer's, and in some cases even cure it.

Mice with the rodent equivalent of the disease were given given 500 milligrams of caffeine in their daily water. They developed better memories and quicker thinking, and experts believe it could stave off Alzheimer's in humans too.

The symptoms of Alzheimer's occurs when sticky clumps of an abnormal protein build up in the brain.

As this example of one coffee-drinking man shows, there is a 50 percent reduction in levels of the protein.

Consuming 500 milligrams of caffeine a day is actually safe for humans, it's just not ideal. It's the equivalent of more than the recommended daily dosage of caffeine high energy tablets or 14 cans of fizzy drinks, six cans of high energy drinks, three espressos or 15 cups of tea.

"If you have a lot of caffeine it can prevent you sleeping, it can give some people slight tummy upset, and it can raise your blood pressure," Rebecca Wood with the Alzheimer's Research Trust said. "So what we're saying to people is don't rush out and start drinking enormous amounts of coffee. But, actually, compared to most drugs, it's relatively low so we're hopeful that more work on this will show us it might be a useful treatment for Alzheimer's disease, and that would be absolutely wonderful if that's the case."

The U.S. researchers now plan to begin human trials of caffeine.

There are nearly half a million sufferers in the UK relying on a positive result.