login
Become a member
Quick Registration
Full Registration Benefits -
Free Homepages for Doctors
Free Homepages for Hospitals
Free Homepages for Medical Conference
Free Homepages for NGO's
Personal Health Record Creation
Access to all Medical Slides
Access to all Jobs & Products Sale
What Causes ‘Caffeine Withdrawal Headache’?
Now, scientists have tried to explain why this happens.
Stacey Sigmon, Ph.D., research associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and colleagues at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine sought to investigate the biological mechanisms of caffeine withdrawal in a new study.
Consumers of coffee and other caffeinated products have often reported that caffeine withdrawal brings with it many after effects, which include headache, fatigue, feeling less alert, less energetic and experiencing difficulty concentrating.
In the study, the researchers looked at brain electrical activity and blood flow during caffeine withdrawal to examine what was taking place physiologically during acute caffeine abstinence, including the likely mechanism underlying the common "caffeine withdrawal headache."
They examined caffeine's effects in a double-blind study, which involved the administration of caffeine and placebo capsules.
The researchers measured each participant's response to the caffeine or placebo using three different measures, brain electrical activity via electroencephalogram (EEG); blood flow velocity in the brain via ultrasound; and participants' self-reports of subjective effects via questionnaires.
It was shown that stopping daily caffeine consumption produces changes in cerebral blood flow velocity and quantitative EEG that are likely related to the classic caffeine withdrawal symptoms of headache, drowsiness and decreased alertness.
More specifically, acute caffeine abstinence increased brain blood flow, an effect that may account for commonly reported withdrawal headaches.
|
|
|
 Comment & Contribute
|
Medwonders Health Network
- Health News Index
|
|
 | Quiz on Headache Check your knowledge on how much you know about headaches. Answer the 11 questions in the quiz and find out. 
|
- News Quick Links
 |
Headache
Complete Medindia Resources
|
| News Categories: |
| » | Drug for Irregular Heartbeat Gets Green Signal |
| » | Schizophrenia Drug Differentiates Cancer Stem Cells into Less Threatening Cells |
| » | Docs Who Seldom Meet Drug Reps Continue to Prescribe Drugs With FDA “Black Box” Warnings |
| » | Revision in Quality Standards for Heparin |
| » | Acne Drug Users At High Risk of Developing Eye Infections |
| More Drug News | |
|
