How coffee can help hyperactive children

A clinical psychologist recently described a problem case he had encountered. A routine hyperactive child patient presented a difficulty when the parents positively refused him permission to use the standard medication prescribed in these cases. The child was so restless that he was unable to develop any relationship during the office visit. In desperation he gave the child a glass of cola beverage, and was surprised to find that the youngster calmed down almost immediately.

Later, thinking over the event, he concluded that it must have been the caffeine content of the soft drink that had a calming effect. Recognizing that a cup of coffee contained twice as much caffeine as the cola soda, he experimented by giving the child a cup of brew on the next visit. He was pleased to note it was even more effective. Thereafter, he used coffee exclusively whenever the parents forbade the use of medication in the treatment of their offspring.

Hyperactivity in youths--also called hyperkinesis, minimal or minor cerebral dysfunction, and attention deficit disorder is a serious problem in somewhat less than five percent of all children. Symptoms include short attention span, emotional instability, impulsivity and excessive motion or activity.
These are obviously objective signs, as they are difficult to measure accurately. They occur to a greater or lesser extent in all children. Accordingly the term "hyperactive" has been misused, because its ordinary meaning and medical definition are often confused. A sedentary parent or teacher might describe any normally active child as hyperkinetic.

Medically, this syndrome involves not only a great deal of random activity, inattention, fidgeting, interruptions, but characteristics of high intensity, difficulty in adapting to new situations and most importantly, inability to concentrate on a single subject or activity for a normal period of time.

Diagnosis is not always easy, even for a physician or psychologist. Yet a surprising number of lay people make it with ease. In one reported study, nearly half of a group of young boys were so labeled by their supervisors. On more scientific testing the actual incidence proved to be a small fraction of this amount.

Several years ago, in some special schools, it was found that entire c
lasses were being given medication based upon the teacher's diagnosis of hyperactivity. The resultant sensational news media reports of children being "doped" to calm them down, caused many parents to forbid legitimate practioners from using any medication on their children. This often occurred in true cases of hyperkinesis, where treatment was either extremely difficult or impossible without it.

The standard medication for a number of years for hyperactive children is an F.D.A. approved agent named Ritalin. In verified cases, this is a necessary prelude to psychological, educational and social treatment. Ritalin is basically a stimulant: if given to an adult or normal child, it demonstrates stimulating effects similar to amphetamines. These have at least five times the potency of caffeine as an invigorant.

For reasons that are not clearly understood, in a genuinely hyperactive child, there is a paradoxical effect. The youngster is calmed down upon the administration of Ritalin and develops an ability to concentrate better, and on the whole to function more effectively. Ritalin has a stabilizing effect, and appears to stimulate centers that counterbalance the cerebral areas that cause his deviant behavior.
Properly used in such a situation, it carries no risk of habituation or dependence. It is usually discontinued after a time with no ill effects, once the child has learned to adjust to its hyperkinesis.

Most common side effects of Ritalin are nervousness and insomnia. These are usually controlled by reducing the dosage. Other reactions include hypersensitivity, skin rash, fever dermatitas, loss of appetite, nausea, dizziness, headaches or weight loss. These latter symptoms are fairly uncommon when proper dosage has been established. It is recommended that administration be interrupted occasionaly to determine if there is recurrence of the behavioral symptoms sufficient to require continuation of the medication. Often the improvement is sustained when it is either temporarily or permanently discontinued.

Apparently, caffeine perhaps to a somewhat lesser extent, performs similarly to Ritalin in cases like these. Of course, there are many degrees of hyperactivity even in authenticated cases; and this particular one may have been one of the milder instances. Nevertheless, it would probably behoove pediatricians and practicing psychologists to utilize gentler medications like a cup of coffee for ailing children in this category before resorting to more drastic agents.

By Lee, Samuel
Publication: Tea & Coffee Trade Journal
Date: Tuesday, August 1 1989

Benefits Of Coffee Detailed In Health Studies

Health benefits of coffee keep pouring in. A new cancer study links higher coffee consumption to lower percentage of women who develop breast cancer. Recent studies have shown that those who drink more than three cups of coffee daily are less likely to develop high blood pressure, suggest that coffee drinkers are less likely to develop liver cancer, showed that coffee is the number one source of healthy antioxidants in the American diet, and that coffee reduces development of type 2 diabetes. Other coffee studies suggest that coffee contributes to better short-term memory and that coffee may increase sex drive in women.

The latest coffee study was conducted by Steven Narod of the University of Toronto. The study, published in the International Journal of Cancer in January, studied women with a very specific gene mutation known as BRCA1. Those women have an 80 percent risk of developing breast cancer before their 70th birthday. But according to Narod, those involved in his study, "... who drank six or more cups of coffee a day on average had about a 75 percent reduction in the risk of developing breast cancer."

A recent study of sexual behavior in rats suggests that coffee serves as the equivalent of female Viagra. That study was tentative at best, and looked only at rats which were not habitual coffee drinkers. So women who consume coffee rarely may find coffee to be a sexual stimulant.

But other health studies link coffee consumption to solid evidence that high levels of antioxidants in coffee carry health benefits and may reduce the risk of several cancers. A separate cancer study shows coffee drinkers are less likely to develop cancer of the liver as consumption levels increase.

A paper presented last year at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago linked coffee drinking with better short-term memory. Florian Koppelstatter, M.D., Ph.D., said, "We were able to show that caffeine modulates a higher brain function through its effects on distinct areas of the brain." Koppelstatter is a radiology fellow at the Medical University-Innsbruck in Austria.

source:http://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,10272,00.htm

Visit to the Coffee Farm

I was not sure if I heard it right when Bobby Timonera, a known photo journalist, told me that he was interested to visit our coffee farm in Bansalan. Our coffee farm is located in Sitio Ararat, in the foothills of Mt. Apo. I happened to know him months before I surfed into his site, kapetabay.com. A certain Benson from Cebu left a comment on his blog saying that coffee from Bansalan tasted like camote. I found the observation odd because I have known coffee from Bansalan as one the best in the region. I immediately put my comment right there and then that their impression on our beloved coffee is wrong. I suggested that I will send samples of my beans, the catimor variety and the civet coffee for cupping. Bobby, being a coffee lover, was glad to know accept my offer for him to taste my coffee and give his honest opinion. The following day, I sent my coffee to Iligan City where Bobby is residing.

I met Bobby and his close friend, Roger Marcelo, that night here in Davao City. It was great for he also gave me the chance to participate in cupping with Bob Martin, the owner of Mindanao.com. Cupping is all about tasting different kinds of coffee. That night, we had 6 kinds of coffee.

Back to our plan to visit the farm, we left Davao City bound for Bansalan on board on Bobby’s cute but very dependable car, a Nissan March. We left ulas at about 5 am and by before 7am, we are already at the Bansalan Fire Station where we will meet with bebing, my sister in law. She will go with us going up to the coffee farm. The trip to the farm is about 30 minutes on board a habal-habal, a motorcycle used to convey passengers in remote areas.

We left the fire station at 7:30am and the road is really slippery. It rained cats and dogs the night before and the motorcycle tires had to be fixed with chains for us to get through. The road is really muddy and slippery. We arrived at sitio Ararat before 9:00am and the cool, refreshing mountain breeze greets us which seems to rejuvenate our spirits. It is really cold up there. The reading on Roger’s altitude meter is 1350 meters above sea level, on which bobby said, a great factor for coffee production. According to Bobby, best coffees are in same altitude. He also said that same with Yemen and Ethiopia, where the best coffees are, we are along the equator belt, in between the tropics of cancer and Capricorn.

Aside from their love of coffee, these two guys are really good in photography, they simply took pictures on almost everything and the results are amazing! Their cameras capture what the environment has to offer and they got the best. They took a lot of pictures of mt. Apo, carrots, cabbages, people, horses, etc.. As I said, everything that they saw, they took pictures of it. It is really nice to hear when somebody in the coffee world will tell you that the farm is nice and the place is really good. Both bobby and roger told me that the place is really beautiful.

We left the farm after feasting on whole native chicken tinola at around 11:00 am. We took the same habal-habal going back to town. The trip going down lasts for less than 30 minutes. Due to slight rain, we have to walk for several meters due slippery road condition. We had just a rest for about 30 minutes in Bansalan Fire station and we hit the road back again to Davao city.

The visit to the farm is a wonderful experience. Having two wonderful guys made it even better. Roger made his last shot at chowking in toril. He had a close up photo of that delicious –looking, very colourful halo-halo. Just the same, the result is simply amazing.....