Coffee drinkers will be clinking mugs in a toast to new research suggesting that just two strong cups of the black stuff a day can reverse the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Dr Gary Arendash of the University of Florida showed that coffee not only helped to reverse symptoms in mice but also staved off production in the brain of abnormal protein plaques¹, which are the hallmark of Alzheimer's.

In the UK the Alzheimer's Society is anxious not to suggest that everyone develop a caffeine habit but says that if further research confirms its benefits, coffee could become part of a lifestyle prevention plan for the disease.

So what else could be in the armoury? Researchers at Columbia University in New York recently found that a Mediterranean-style diet high in fish oil and vegetables prevented people with mild memory loss from getting full-blown dementia, and also seemed to prevent memory decline in the general population. Blueberries, kale and broccoli² seem particularly .

Smoking is repeatedly shown to dull the brain's efficiency, so that's another reason to quit, but some studies suggest that moderate alcohol intake³ (one or two drinks a day) can be protective.

Staying fit seems to help, too. A study of more than 2,200 Japanese-American men between the ages of 71 and 93 found that those who were sedentary or walked under a quarter of a mile per day were nearly twice as likely to develop dementia as those who covered two miles or more a day. And a report in the New England Journal of Medicine found that regular dancing of any sort reduced the risk of the disease.

Being bilingual or learning languages preserves brain function and lowers the risk of dementia, and the "use it or lose it" theory also has proven benefits. One study of 400 pensioners⁴ in New York showed their risk of neural⁵ decline was halved⁶ through activities such as sudoku, crosswords⁷, visiting museums and playing a musical instrument.

It's better still if you can complete those puzzles with a spouse⁸. Being married means you are at half the risk of getting dementia compared with singletons, Swedish researchers reported this month. But maintaining that marital⁹ status quo is essential: the same study found that divorce in mid-life will increase the risk three-fold.

喝咖啡的人将会彼此碰杯来庆祝一项新的研究，此研究表明每天喝两杯浓咖啡能扭转老年痴呆症对身体的多种影响。佛罗里达大学的Gary Arendash 博士的表示，喝咖啡不仅有助于扭转老鼠的症状，还可以阻止大脑中产生异常蛋白质斑块，这些斑块是老年痴呆症的重要特征。

英国老年痴呆症协会并不急于建议每个人都养成喝咖啡的习惯，但表示如果进一步研究证实了其好处，喝咖啡可能成为预防老年痴呆症生活方式的一部分。

那么这种生活方式中还包含什么呢？ 最近，纽约哥伦比亚大学的研究人员发现，一种富含鱼油和蔬菜的地中海式饮食可以防止轻度记忆力丧失的人发展成为完全型老年痴呆症 ，而且似乎可以防止一般人的记忆力衰退。蓝莓，羽衣甘蓝和花椰菜似乎特别有帮助。

吸烟一再被表明会降低大脑的工作效率，这也是戒烟的另一个原因，但有些研究表明，适度饮酒（每天一杯或两杯）可以起到预防作用。

健身似乎也有帮助。 一项针对2200多个年龄在71岁到93岁之间的日裔美国人的研究发现，那些久坐或每天走路不足0.25英里的人得老年痴呆症的几率是每天走两英里甚至更多的人的两倍。新英格兰医学杂志中的一份报告发现，经常跳舞（可以是任何类型的舞蹈）可以降低得老年痴呆症的风险。

使用双语或学习语言可以保持大脑功能，降低痴呆症的风险，同时“不用则废”理论也已经证明了其好处。 一项对纽约400名养老金领取者的研究发现，通过诸如数独（一种源自18世纪末的瑞士数学家欧拉所创造的拉丁方阵游戏），填字游戏，参观博物馆和弹奏乐器等活动可以使神经衰退的风险降低一半。

如果能与配偶一同完成这些智力游戏会更好。结婚意味着你得老年痴呆症的风险比单身的人要低一半，瑞典研究人员在本月的报告中称。 但是，维持这样的婚姻现状是至关重要的：同样的研究发现，如果中年离婚得这种病的风险会增加3倍。