Drinking regular cups of tea could help improve your memory, research suggests.
Although there is no cure for Alzheimer's, tea could potentially be another weapon in the armoury.
A team from Newcastle University found green and black tea inhibited the activity of key enzymes in the brain associated with memory.
The researchers hope their findings, published in Phytotherapy Research, may lead to the development of a new treatment for Alzheimer's Disease.
They say tea appears to have the same effect as drugs specifically designed to combat the condition.
Alzheimer's disease is associated with a reduced level of a chemical called acetylcholine in the brain.
In lab tests, the Newcastle team found that both green and black tea inhibited the activity of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which breaks down this key chemical.
They also found both teas inhibited the activity of a second enzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), which has been discovered in protein deposits found in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's.
Green tea went one step further in that it obstructed the activity of beta-secretase, which plays a role in the production of protein deposits in the brain which are associated with Alzheimer's disease.
The scientists also found that it continued to have its inhibitive effect for a week, whereas black tea's enzyme-inhibiting properties lasted for only one day.
From BBC NEWS Monday, 25 October, 2004, 23:18 GMT 00:18 UK
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