Coffee May Decrease Suicide

Ray Williamson Posted on: 2013-09-08 12:00 AM Studies have linked Caffeine to decreased levels of Suicide

According to the World Journal of Biological Psychology people who drank two to three cups of coffee per day were 45 lower risk to commit suicide. According to the research performed over 20 years that followed over 200,000 people.

The Researchers said that Caffeine in coffee can increase the production of neurotrasnmitters in the brain which can lift a person's spirit and act as a mild antidepressant.

"Unlike previous investigations, we were able to assess association of consumption of caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages, and we identify caffeine as the most likely candidate of any putative protective effect of coffee," study author Michel Lucas, a research fellow in the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, said in a news release.

It is worth noting that these studies were cohort studies from which the community cannot determine exact causation. A cohort study looks at the rate of incidence within the population and tries to relate the effects of a contributing factor.  There have been other direct studies that have found that in moderation caffeine can reduce certain types of stress response.

According to the "World of Caffeine"

“Many of caffeine’s powers depend on its power to pass into the central nervous system (CNS). To enter the CNS, caffeine must cross the blood-brain barrier... Even when injected into the bloodstream, many drugs fail to penetrate this barrier... However, caffeine passes through the blood-brain barrier as if it did not exist. All psychoactive drugs, including caffeine, achieve their effects by imitating or altering the release or uptake of neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers that direct how the neurons of the CNS interact with each other.

Caffeine achieves many of its effects by blocking the activity of adenosine... Because one of the primary actions of adenosine is to make us tired or sleepy, caffeine, by blocking the uptake of adenosine, keeps us from feeling the effects of fatigue. But scientists have learned that, largely as a consequence of its blockade of adenosine receptors, caffeine also has profound effects on most of the other major neurotransmitters, including dopamine, acetylcholine, serotonin, and, in high doses, on norepinephrine.”

While the authors of the various studies are proponents of mild or moderate use of caffeine for healthy adults. Each paper stressed that all forms of caffeine should be avoided by pregnant women and that these studies are statistical representation and not de facto  guides to self medication.

So enjoy a cup of coffee with your toast in the morning and get a good start to your day.