Too Much Coffee Can Induce Aggression & Paranoia

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Misty L. Trepke

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Too Much Coffee Can Induce Aggression & Paranoia

By Roger Dobson

The Independent - UK

10-29-3

 

People who drink too much coffee are at risk of caffeine psychosis,

according to a new report. It found that too much caffeine can lead

to marked changes in personality and make drinkers more aggressive,

anxious and temperamental.

 

" Caffeinism " puts sufferers at further risk of anxiety neurosis,

irregular heart beats, insomnia, muscle twitches, and nervous

irritability.

 

The warning comes a week after Tony Blair suffered an irregular

heart beat, which he reportedly blamed on too much strong

continental coffee at the European Union summit in Brussels. The

supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT, that he suffered can be

triggered by caffeine.

 

In the new report, on the potential effects of caffeine on police

hostage negotiators, Professor Wayman Mullins of Southwest Texas

State University warns: " Tachycardia could be anxiety-producing and

lead to the negotiator's stress level rising to abnormal levels, " he

says in the Journal of Police Crisis Negotiations. " The negotiator

would likely become overly anxious, nervous, frightened, and

concentrate on what was occurring physiologically and not on the

hostage-taker. "

 

Caffeine has also been linked to other health problems: other

research has blamed too much coffee with the increased risk of

rheumatoid arthritis,miscarriages and epilepsy. Research also shows

that drinking four or five cups of coffee a day makes the body

behave as if it is under constant stress by increasing the levels of

stress hormones. That can raise blood pressure, with a risk of long-

term heart disease.

 

But it is not all bad news for coffee lovers. Researchers have shown

that drinking two to four cups a day can lower the risk of colon

cancer, gallstones, cirrhosis of the liver and Parkinson's disease.

It can also increase male fertility.

 

C 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

 

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