CAFFEINE

[Guest guest]

<< However recent posts on caffeine

have also shown it to be beneficial for preventing Alzheimer's. So if

you like caffeine and it doesn't stress you out too much ... it may

not be such a bad thing. >>

Hi-I am new to the group--thought I would jump in and comment on the caffeine

Q.

I am not aware of any research that has shown that coffee is beneficial for

preventing Alzheimer's. I would be interested in the source.

To my knowledge (and surely everyone cant know EVERYTHING...) there is no

true prevention for Alzheimers. (unless you consider being highly educated a

PREVENTION--as the statistics say the more college you have the less likely

you are to end up with Alzheimers.) For at least 4 years there have been

some voices in med schools who feel Alzheimers might be a viral infection

with a long term incubation period--like Hansons Disease (Leprosy). Their

answer to the fact that Alzheimers DOES appear to have a genetic

component...is that certain people would be genetically predisposed to this

virus.

Of course this is speculation--but speculation from some very good minds-LOL

I doubt drinking one cup a day of coffee would bring harm to any normal

person. HOWEVER if a person has an altered physiology- where they tend toward

high blood pressure or adrenal problems...then its something best be avoided.

Doesn't that make sense?

I read the article quoted--apparently by a writer and not a person with any

specific qualifications regarding biochemistry, etc....and the first thought

that hit my mind--was where did they get the subjects, & what what the

baseline each subject was starting from? Were they healthy 19 year olds or

45 year olds with a history of health problems? Even assuming they were

involved in double-blind studies (neither the people giving the meds nor the

patients knew who was getting the placebos) - there are still many variables

involved in research studies.

I was involved in a study for new medication for asthma a year or so ago in

Los Angeles at the time of the blackouts. These blackouts would strike

without warning and shut down entire areas of a city. I decided I would

choose to WALK UP 4 flights of stairs rather than get trapped in an elevator

in a blackout. After breathlessly reaching the desired floor by the interior

stairs--I found out that the doors ONLY opened out and I was stuck on the

wrong side of the door. After yelling a bit hoping to attract the attention

of SOMEONE inside--I gave up and trotted back down the stairs---got on the

elevator--got up to the office--and not only was I breathless from the

climb--but I was angry that they would put in emergency exit stairs that only

opened IN and only exited at one point (which-hey! could have been the wrong

place to exit in a fire) So there I am --angry--breathless--and they take my

various lung measurements. No surprise--I was in a " danger " zone for

respirations, etc.

To make a short story long (a favorite passtime)--my measurements were

recorded in this research group---and there was no way to add the special

circumstances to the assessment. So not every " number " is without

explanation.

That reminds me--if anyone is still reading-- the research done to prove that

one could CAUSE Type II Diabetes in adults by stuffing them with food. The

population for this test was pretty well confined---a prison! After a year of

stuffing the prisoners with double calories it was found that the thin ones

had stayed thin---and the ones who tended toward " overweight " indeed got

overweight MORE.

NO ONE ended up with diabetes--so the original premise was not validated in

that test--HOWEVER that is where they found a differentiation between brown

fat and yellow fat.

What was my topic--caffeine.. INdeed caffeine at the VERY start of a

migraine--can in some cases short circuit it--because migraines have to do

with blood vessels--and caffeine temporarily opens up the blood vessels

(again--in SOME migraine cases this works--not all) So that part is correct.

Dr Ysabella