Caffeine, a psychoactive agent proved to be effective in improving balance, mobility and quality of life (QoL) in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), as revealed from a clinical trial published in the ‘PLoS One’ journal. Interestingly, a significant increase in self-reported walking impairment over time was observed in men. Ageing plays a pivotal role in balance with time.

Afsoon Dadvar et al. assessed the possible consequences of caffeine consumption on balance, mobility and health-related QoL in people with MS.

This trial had a 2-week placebo run-in followed by a 12-week stage with 200 mg/day of caffeine. The Generalized Estimation Equation (GEE) was used to investigate the changes in outcome measures throughout the study. The different outcome measures used were:

• Twelve-item Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale (MSWS-12) to assess self-reported walking ability
• Patients' Global Impression of Change (PGIC) for patient's impression of treatment efficacy
• Berg Balance Scale (BBS) to assess balance (static and dynamic)
• Timed Up and Go (TUG) to assess dynamic balance and functional movement
• Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29) for QoL

The effect of age and gender outcome measures was also assessed with the help of GEE.

All in all, 30 individuals with MS (average age: 38.89 ± 9.85, female: 76.7%) were enrolled in the study. The intake of caffeine supplementation every day notably enhanced objective measures of balance and functional mobility at every time point (weeks 0, 2, 4, 8 and 12) along with subjective improvements in QoL observed 2 weeks after the supplementation.

No significant association was found concerning MSWS-12 and PGIC. The influence of age and gender on the outcome measures was also investigated, revealing substantial gender-time interaction effects for MSWS-12 (P-value = 0.001) and PGIC (P-value <0.001). Additionally, the influence of age on BBS scores increased over time.