When a person with epilepsy adequately controlled by medication suddenly begins having more frequent seizures, excess caffeine intake could be the culprit, a report suggests.
``This case presents the point that people with epilepsy should minimally use caffeine,'' says Dr. Kenneth R. Kaufman, associate professor of psychiatry at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey. ``One needs to avoid tea, coffee, chocolates, cocoa and many of the caffeinated sodas.''
Kaufman and his colleague Dr. Rajesh Sachdeo, clinical professor of neurology and director of the hospital's epilepsy program, presented a case study addressing the effect of caffeine on seizure frequency.
The researchers described the 49-year-old man who had been having seizures for 36 years. His convulsions had been successfully controlled with the drugs phenytoin and primidone.
The man began experiencing a sharp rise in the frequency of his seizures, even though he was continuing to take his medication and his sleep patterns and stress levels had not changed. Lack of sleep and increased stress are both known to make seizure control more difficult.
Several newer anticonvulsive drugs, which may have fewer side effects than older medications, have been introduced recently, Kaufman and Sachdeo noted. They considered switching the man to one of these medications until they reviewed his diet and discovered he had recently begun consuming 2 quarts a day of a popular caffeinated, bottled iced tea drink. After he switched to a decaffeinated drink, his seizures subsided.
The researchers explained that chemical substances known as methylxanthines, which include caffeine, have been reported to promote convulsions in animals. When a patient begins suffering more seizures, doctors should investigate the patient's diet for any recent changes before switching his or her medication, Kaufman and Sachdeo suggest.
``Beyond the medications, one has to ask the question, 'What types of seizure threshold-lowering behaviors might be occurring?''' Kaufman added. ``Caffeine (intake) may be a seizure threshold-lowering behavior.''
Showing posts with label coffee risks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coffee risks. Show all posts
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Coffee may lower endometrial cancer risk
Women dread a diagnosis of endometrial cancer, but those who drink at least two cups of caffeinated coffee a day may have a lower risk for this cancer of cells lining the uterus.
Coffee drinking seemed to particularly protect overweight and obese women, study co-author Dr. Emilie Friberg, at the Karolinska Intstituet in Stockholm, Sweden, told Reuters Health by email.
Friberg's team twice surveyed 60,634 Swedish women about their coffee intake - when they enrolled in the Swedish Mammography Cohort study between 1987 and 1990, and again in 1997.
During the 17 years, on average, that the researchers followed patients, 677 women - about 1 percent -- developed endometrial cancer. The average age at diagnosis was 67.
In the overall study group, those who daily drank 2 or more cups were significantly less likely to develop endometrial cancer, compared with those who drank fewer cups of coffee.
Each additional daily cup seemed tied to a 10 percent lower risk for endometrial cancer, after allowing for age and other factors potentially tied to endometrial cancer risk among all the women.
However, they observed the strongest effect among overweight and obese women, who, Friberg's team notes, have "the highest risk for endometrial cancer."
Each additional cup of coffee seemed to decrease endometrial cancer risk by 12 percent among overweight women and by 20 percent among obese women, Friberg and colleagues report in the International Journal of Cancer.
The investigators suggest that coffee may affect blood sugar, fat cells, and estrogen, all of which play a role in endometrial cancer. However, they write that the current findings should be confirmed in other populations.
In particular, "a study also including de-caffeinated coffee would make it possible to separate the effect of coffee and caffeine," Friberg said.
Coffee drinking seemed to particularly protect overweight and obese women, study co-author Dr. Emilie Friberg, at the Karolinska Intstituet in Stockholm, Sweden, told Reuters Health by email.
Friberg's team twice surveyed 60,634 Swedish women about their coffee intake - when they enrolled in the Swedish Mammography Cohort study between 1987 and 1990, and again in 1997.
During the 17 years, on average, that the researchers followed patients, 677 women - about 1 percent -- developed endometrial cancer. The average age at diagnosis was 67.
In the overall study group, those who daily drank 2 or more cups were significantly less likely to develop endometrial cancer, compared with those who drank fewer cups of coffee.
Each additional daily cup seemed tied to a 10 percent lower risk for endometrial cancer, after allowing for age and other factors potentially tied to endometrial cancer risk among all the women.
However, they observed the strongest effect among overweight and obese women, who, Friberg's team notes, have "the highest risk for endometrial cancer."
Each additional cup of coffee seemed to decrease endometrial cancer risk by 12 percent among overweight women and by 20 percent among obese women, Friberg and colleagues report in the International Journal of Cancer.
The investigators suggest that coffee may affect blood sugar, fat cells, and estrogen, all of which play a role in endometrial cancer. However, they write that the current findings should be confirmed in other populations.
In particular, "a study also including de-caffeinated coffee would make it possible to separate the effect of coffee and caffeine," Friberg said.
Coffee Tied to Inflammation, Perhaps Heart Disease
Consuming moderate-to-high amounts of coffee is associated with increased levels of several inflammatory markers, a finding that could help explain previous reports linking the beverage to heart disease.
Ongoing, low-level inflammation is thought to be an underlying factor in the development of heart disease.
The latest findings, which appear in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are based on a study of about 3000 subjects with no history of cardiovascular disease. A food-frequency questionnaire was used to assess coffee intake, and blood samples were tested for levels of various compounds that are known to promote, or are a marker of, inflammation.
Compared with subjects who did not drink coffee, those who consumed more than about 1 cup of the beverage per day had significantly higher levels of all the inflammatory markers tested, Dr. Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos, from Harokopio University in Athens, and colleagues report.
The results held true even after factoring in age, gender, smoking, body weight, physical activity, and other potential confounders, the researchers point out.
Although the findings provide a mechanism by which coffee intake could promote heart disease, the authors note that not all previous studies have identified an association between the two. Hence, further studies are needed to confirm the present findings.
Ongoing, low-level inflammation is thought to be an underlying factor in the development of heart disease.
The latest findings, which appear in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, are based on a study of about 3000 subjects with no history of cardiovascular disease. A food-frequency questionnaire was used to assess coffee intake, and blood samples were tested for levels of various compounds that are known to promote, or are a marker of, inflammation.
Compared with subjects who did not drink coffee, those who consumed more than about 1 cup of the beverage per day had significantly higher levels of all the inflammatory markers tested, Dr. Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos, from Harokopio University in Athens, and colleagues report.
The results held true even after factoring in age, gender, smoking, body weight, physical activity, and other potential confounders, the researchers point out.
Although the findings provide a mechanism by which coffee intake could promote heart disease, the authors note that not all previous studies have identified an association between the two. Hence, further studies are needed to confirm the present findings.
