Can Drinking Green Tea Prevent Alzheimer's Disease?
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Audience
Secondary school -
Learning stage
Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6 -
Learning area
Science -
Type
Learning resources
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Dementia is a term used to describe a range of conditions which impair brain function and impact memory, thought, physical control, and more. The likelihood of dementia increases with age, though is not necessarily a normal part of aging.
Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia due to nerve cell damage. Is there anything that one can do to help prevent the onset of dementia like Alzheimer’s? Watch year 11 students Alison and Kathlin’s 2-minute video to find out!
- That there are only six types of tea: white, yellow, green, oolong, black, and pu-er. They all come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis. The variation in type and flavour comes from the amount of oxidation the plant is allowed to go through before drying.
- Herbal teas, or tisanes, such as chamomile, mint, and ginger generally do not contain any actual tea plant, Camellia sinensis.
- In 2022, it was estimated by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare that there were 401,300 Australians living with dementia. This is equivalent to 15 people with dementia per 1,000 Australians.
- What plant does tea come from? How was it rumoured to have been discovered?
- What are some of the benefits green tea has been shown to provide? What is EGCG?
- What processes during old age start to block signalling between neurons? How does EGCG change alter those processes?
- What area of the brain is first affected by Alzheimer’s? What are the early symptoms?
About the video
Antioxidant-rich green tea has been known to reduce cell damage in the body. In their animation, How can drinking green tea prevent Alzheimer's Disease? Alison and Kathlin explain why the ancient Chinese drink may also be an effective natural preventative for memory loss and physical deterioration associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Sponsored by the University of Sydney, the Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize is a national short film competition that encourages school students to communicate a scientific concept in a way that is accessible and entertaining to the public while painlessly increasing their science knowledge. It is intended to support budding young scientists across the nation, who will be our future leaders in research, discovery and communication. You can learn more about the Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize here.
