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Whats in your cup of coffee?

Humanity runs on coffee - Unknown In the midst of all the addictions our world has to offer, coffee is one that has certainly stood the tes...

Showing posts with label diabetes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diabetes. Show all posts

Whats in your cup of coffee?



Humanity runs on coffee - Unknown


In the midst of all the addictions our world has to offer, coffee is one that has certainly stood the test of time across generations. Coffee has become both the "waker" and "day-starter" for most in different parts of the world.

But seriously speaking..whats in that cup of coffee?


Of course, the active ingredient , Caffeine, which is a stimulant that acts in the brain by blocking an inhibitory neurotransmitter called Adenosine. Caffeine is the most commonly consumed psychoactive substance in the world today, taking only about 15-20 minutes to get into the bloodstream, reaching its peak level in 30-60 minutes and effects lasting up to 6-10hours.

A cup of Coffee is more than just black water with a rich smell.

A single cup of coffee contains several important nutrients, including Riboflavin, Pantothenic Acid, Manganese, Potassium, Magnesium and Niacin.
Certainly it has it benefits, but as with everything in life, moderation is key! even with coffee consumption. Some studies have shown that drinking coffee regularly in moderation reduces the risk of heart failure for example.

Still on Caffeine...
Coffee containing caffeine can cause insomnia, nervousness and restlessness, stomach upset, nausea and vomiting, increased heart and breathing rate, and other side effects. Consuming large amounts of coffee might also cause headache, anxiety, agitation, ringing in the ears, and irregular heartbeats.

The Benefits!

The caffeine in a cup of coffee might help small blood vessels work better. Coffee consumption has been linked with a lower incidence of heart rhythm disturbances in both men and women, and lowered stroke risk for women. Among 13,000 people, those who drank one to three cups every day were 20 percent less likely to go to the hospital for arrhythmias than abstainers.

Lowers Diabetes Risk

Coffee has also proved beneficial in the context of cardiovascular disease risk factors like Diabetes. Recently, Australian researchers found a correlation of about 7% drop in the odds of having type II diabetes for every additional cup of coffee drunk daily following 18 studies of nearly 458,000 participants. Six to seven cups of either caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee tanked the chance of getting the disease by a third.

It is important to add however, that regular coffee, contains caffeine which can raise the blood pressure, as well as blood levels of the fight-or-flight chemical epinephrine (also called adrenaline),

While it is known that caffeine intake reduce the risk of forming gallstones,study reports have also indicated that coffee protects against liver cirrhosis (Link)

Other Benefits of Coffee

Cancer

Though, the evidence of a cancer protection effect of coffee is weaker than that for type 2 diabetes, the drink has proven to be more effective against liver cancer, where it lowers the chances of developing the disease by half. There is also a link between coffee and lung cancer, but only those who got the disease because they smoked. On the other hand, drinking it was actually found to be a protectant for non-smokers with lung cancer.

Keeps the Brain Sharp
Coffee has also been linked to lower risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. That characteristic mental jolt coffee provides which most medical students and doctors can relate with may extend a lifetime. Recent studies have shown that Parkinson’s, age-related cognitive decline, and maybe even Alzheimer’s could be kept at bay by coffee. The Alzheimer’s and dementia risk may be lowered by an amazing 65 percent thanks to coffee! (link)


Helps You Withstand Pain
Interestingly, coffee may be the answer to mild pain relief. This is according to a national study done in Norway, in which coffee-takers in an office reported a lower pain-intensity level when compared with those who abstained. Other studies have shown linked caffeine with reducing muscle pain after working out (Link)

Most Importantly, Lowers Death Risk

This is according to a meta-analysis of 20 studies with 1 million participants carried out by the National Institutes of Health. They found that coffee somehow helped lower ones chances of dying from any cause. The AARP Diet and Health study showed that men can lower their chance of dying by 6 percent with just a cup a day. The more they drank, the lower that chance went — five cups, of course, was the maximum recommended.


After all said....Lets Drink it up..but in moderation

To be continued.....

3yr old diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes,Youngest Patient Yet!

Medic-ALL (09:18;2015) IN THE NEWS

A 3yr old girl was diagnosed with diabetes, making her what is thought to be the world’s youngest case of diabetes in history. The child’s story was documented in a case presented this week at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm. The case is being presented by doctors at the University of Texas, Houston.



Dr. Michael Yafi of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, United States who is presenting the case study, said the patient, a 3-and-a-half-year-old Hispanic girl presented to the paediatric endocrinology clinic with symptoms of excessive urination and thirst, but her medical history was unremarkable except that her parents were obese, but had no history of diabetes. 

The child weighed 77 pounds -- compared to an average of about 35 pounds for a girl her age. Her BMI was also in the top 5 percent for children her age and hence she was being evaluated for childhood causes of obesity. Following review of the child's diet by the doctors, it was found out that the family had poor nutritional habits with uncontrolled calories and fat. Laboratory tests revealed she had high fasting plasma glucose, but she tested negative for antibodies that would have indicated Type 1 diabetes. After ruling out other potential causes for her obesity and weight gain, doctors diagnosed her with type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is typically seen in adults, but as the epidemic expands, the disease has been rising dramatically in children, as well. In a statement Yafi said "Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of type 2 diabetes even in very young obese children, although of course type 1 diabetes can also still occur in obese children and is in fact much more common in young children than type 2 diabetes."

The girl was subsequently started on a liquid version of the diabetes drug metformin and her parents received nutritional training and medical advice to help them control their daughter's food intake and increase her physical activity. The metformin therapy was decreased by 50 percent each month, and then stopped. Six months after her diagnosis, the girl had dropped 25 percent of her body weight and had normal blood glucose levels.


According to Dr Yafi the reversal of type 2 diabetes in children is possible by early screening of obese children, early diagnosis, appropriate therapy and lifestyle modification.

Around 9.3 percent of the American population has diabetes, amounting to 29.1 million people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2014, while 8.1 million people are undiagnosed.

Medic-ALL. Inc 2015

Sources: FoxNews, CBSnews

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