(no subject)
In 1995, NASA scientists seeking to measure toxicity relationships examined the webs of spiders dosed with various chemicals. (Source: Noever, R., J. Cronise, and R. A. Relwani. 1995. Using spider-web patterns to determine toxicity. NASA Tech Briefs 19(4):82. Published in Britain's New Scientist magazine, 27 April 1995.)
The spider on marijuana drifted off before finishing the job. The spider on benzedrine, an upper, worked energetically but without much planning. The spider dosed with chloral hydrate, a sedative, soon fell asleep.
But the spider dosed with caffeine was by far the most disoriented and proved incapable of creating even a single organized cell. Its web showed no sign of the "hub and spokes" pattern fundamental to conventional web design.
What does the web of a caffeinated spider (which can hardly be accustomed to the jolt of a morning latte) have to do with human behavior? Unlikely as it sounds, it may be the most vivid illustration of caffeine's effect on caffeine-sensitive people, many of whom may tragically be misdiagnosed and medicated:
"Caffeine-induced psychosis, whether it be delirium, manic depression, schizophrenia, or merely an anxiety syndrome, in most cases will be hard to differentiate from other organic or non-organic psychoses....The treatment for caffeine-induced psychosis is to withhold further caffeine."
Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose, 3rd ed., 1998
Michael W. Shannon, MD, MPH, Director, Lead and Toxicology Clinic, The Children's Hospital; Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School; Staff Toxicologist, Massachusetts Poison Control System
Lester M. Haddad, MD, Clinical Professor in Family Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina; Emergency Physician and Active Staff, Bon Secours St. Francis Xavier Hospital
James F. Winchester, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Georgetown University Medical Center
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"Although infrequently diagnosed, caffeinism is thought to afflict as many as one person in ten of the population."
JE James and KP Stirling, "Caffeine: A Summary of Some of the Known and Suspected Deleterious Habits of Habitual Use," British Journal of Addiction, 1983;78:251-58.
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"The potential for caffeine intoxication to cause clinically significant distress is reflected by the inclusion of caffeine intoxication as a diagnosis in DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition)(American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and in ICD-10 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Edition)(World Health Organization)."
"Studies have shown that high dietary doses of caffeine (200 mg or more) increase anxiety ratings and induce panic attacks in the general population. In the United States the average per capita daily intake among adult caffeine consumers is 280 milligrams (the equivalent of 17 ounces of brewed coffee)." [CaffeineWeb note: One gram has long been considered the toxic dose of caffeine, but it may not be as rare as supposed. A recent University of Florida study published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology found that two 16 oz. coffees may contain in excess of one gram.]
"It has been noted that caffeine intoxication can occur in someone who has been using caffeine for many years with no prior apparent problems."
Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Professor of Behavioral Biology, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Professor of Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience
Formerly Research Chief, Department of Psychiatry, Baltimore City Hospitals, Baltimore, MD
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"The 4 caffeine-induced psychiatric disorders include caffeine intoxication, caffeine-induced anxiety disorder, caffeine-induced sleep disorder, and caffeine-related disorder not otherwise specified (NOS)."
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV)
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"For five years I worked in a team practice with physicians and psychotherapists. Often, the psychological evaluation would include one or more anxiety syndromes, and the recommendation was for counseling. I would point out that the person was consuming excessive amounts of caffeine and request a trial month off caffeine prior to therapy sessions. In about 50% of cases, the anxiety syndrome would resolve with caffeine withdrawal alone."
"In over a decade of practice as a clinical nutritionist, I have seen firsthand, with thousands of clients, that caffeine is a health hazard. Anxiety, muscle aches, PMS, headaches....However, if that's all caffeine has done to you, you're lucky. What about people misdiagnosed as neurotic or even psychotic, who spend years and small fortunes in psychotherapy--all because no one asked them about their caffeine intake?"
Nutritional biochemist Stephen Cherniske, Author, Caffeine Blues: Wake Up to the Dangers of America's #1 Drug
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For more testimony by psychiatrists, physicians and toxicologists, please visit our homepage.
While the perils of ingesting 20 cups at a sitting are readily acknowledged by reasonable people, CaffeineWeb.com addresses the dangers of so-called moderate intake over the course of weeks, months and years. Those same 20 cups are the weekly average for American coffee drinkers, and in the medium to long term can have devastating effects on caffeine-sensitive people.
As caffeinism expert Ruth Whalen observes, "80-90% of the world's population uses caffeine, 25% of the population is diagnosed with a mental disorder, and at any one time 25% of hospital beds are taken by persons diagnosed with schizophrenia." Clinical studies indicate that there may be a significant relationship among those figures, and that many people diagnosed as mentally ill are in fact merely suffering from caffeine poisoning.
Important: The information on this web site is not a substitute for an informed discussion with a health care professional. In certain cases caffeine is the primary cause of symptoms that mimic mental illness, which vanish when caffeine is eliminated from the system. But caffeine is also known to exacerbate preexisting mental disorders, in which case withdrawing from caffeine is only one ingredient to improving your health. If you have been diagnosed with one of the illnesses caffeinism mimics, be sure to consult your doctor before acting on the information at CaffeineWeb.com.