Caffeinated Coffee and Late-Life Depression in Women

Coffee is one of the most common dietary sources of caffeine. To explore whether caffeinated coffee protects women against late-life depression, researchers analyzed Nurses' Health Study data from 50,739 U.S. women (mean age, 63) who were depression-free in 1996. Participants reported caffeine consumption at regular intervals between 1980 and 2002 and reported diagnoses of depression and use of antidepressants between 1996 and 2006.

Analysis adjusted for potential confounders (e.g., use of hormone therapy, smoking, body-mass index, physical activity, marital and employment status, comorbidities) showed that greater consumption of caffeinated coffee was associated with lower risk for developing depression. This relation was not seen for caffe…