March 07
Coffee , The Fix of the Brain !
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Im not the best to talk about stimulants! Not caffeine, in particular! I even fit qualifications for caffeine-naïve. Sure, I drink coffee but only started to build up my knowledge about coffee few months ago. The world of stimulation should never by forgotten! World by its own to live in!! So here what I learnt:
Medical uses of caffeine:
1) In PICU, docs give it to newborns to boost respiratory effort.
2) Caffeine is used to relieve the pesky headache that follows a spinal tap; it treats other headaches, too.
3) Gives synergic effect to acetaminophen, as a stimulant, you may be familiar with Al DAWAI'H OTC product, a combination of caffeine 25mg with paracetamol 500mg.
Caffeine is metabolized in the liver (demethylation by CYP1A2). The serum half-life for neonates is about 4 days; in adults it’s around 4 hours. The time to peak serum concentration is between 30 and 90 minutes for orally delivered drug.
But caffeine is not limited to hospital use!
Caffeine is a member of the large class of mind-altering substances called nootropics. In drinking your morning coffee, you are not only gearing up for the day but increasing vigilance, the speed at which you work and, possibly, memory recall.
Want to best use this most popular psychoactive substance in the world? Follow these tips:
1) Use caffeine in small doses. 20-100 mg per hour increase speed and accuracy of simple tasks.
2) Boost the effect of caffeine by consuming with sugar. A well designed study showed that 150 calories of glucose -– the same as in a 12 oz can of cola –- with caffeine is better than either alone. It would be nice to know if such caloric intake is needed for the additive effect. Until that study is done, you’ll just have to weigh your waist against your cognitive ability.
3) Drink responsibly. The cognitive benefits are lost after the body builds up a tolerance. So if you find yourself needing a fix every morning, you have probably lost any benefit that could be gained from regular small doses. Taper yourself off your high AM loading dose to reset your body. Then, when you need to buckle down for the next board exam, you can let loose the nootropic power of caffeine. Just try not to exceed 2500 mg in a day.
To find out more about the world of caffeine, check the following links:
http://scienceblogs.com/developingintelligence/2008/02/optimally_wired_a_caffeine_use.php
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/search.aspx?stype=drug&query=caffeine
P.S. The coffee Im stuck to these days is MELANGE من الرفاعي ... Delicious! Try it and you won't end up with a bad taste coffee as with other coffee types, I know how to sell things I like!
