How Caffeine Works 

            Caffeine is the most widely used drug in the world, with over 90% of all North American adults consuming at least one caffeinated product daily. However, even with caffeine’s immense popularity, few people know how the drug truly works, or how it can harm the human body.

            Caffeine is a psychoactive drug, also known as trimethlyxanthine, and has the formula C8H10N4O2, with methyl groups bonding to the 1st, 3rd, and 7th nitrogen atoms, as seen in the picture.Caffiene As with all psychoactive drugs, Caffeine works on central nervous system in order to produce its effects, in this case, warding off drowsiness.  The specifics of the drug revolve around its targeting of adenosine receptors in the brain. In normal situations, adenosine would bond to the receptors, and would slow down cellular activity. However, the consumption of caffeine prevents this from happening, which in turn causes nerve cells to become over-stimulated and release epinephrine, also known as adrenaline. Once the adrenaline is released, blood flow to the muscles and heart rate increase, causing one to feel a sudden rush of energy (which is the cause behind a loss of drowsiness).

            The drug is found naturally in many plants, including coffee beans, cacao beans, and tea plants, and is produced as a means of defense. Any insect that tries to feed on a plant that produces caffeine will be paralyzed and killed due to the effects of the drug. But despite the common use of caffeine in nature, it’s most well known properties (energizing and preventing sleepiness) were not discovered until around 800 C.E., and the solitary caffeine molecule was not isolated until 1819.

            While the consumption of caffeine is widespread, most people fail to recognize the negative effects that the drug can bring with it, primarily that while caffeine gives the illusion of one not requiring sleep, the feeling is just that: nothing more than an illusion, and can cause people to neglect the necessary function. Furthermore, caffeine, like other psychoactive drugs can cause addiction (in this case if over 300 mg is consumed daily), and can be fatal inThe Effects of Caffeine on the Human Body quantities of over (13-19 grams). Furthermore, it can cause irritation of the skin, hallucinations, nervousness, and insomnia. These, along with many other of its effects can be seen in the above picture.


Bibliography:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/caffeine1.htm 
http://chemistry.about.com/od/moleculescompounds/a/caffeine.htm 
Both images from:  http://flaggedrevs.labs.wikimedia.org/wiki/Caffeine 


Posted by On 3/26/2012 at 3:33 PM  10 Comments

Comments
said On 5/9/2012 at 9:53 PM
Can you explain why insects die from caffeine consumption? Also, is there a specific way that caffeine is obtained from the plants?  
said On 5/8/2012 at 7:18 PM
@306174 Caffeine speeds metabolism, and is sometimes used in weight loss pills. When when treated with potassium or sodium citrate, it can help ease breathing in premature babies. It can also speed the effects of some medicine, such as aspirin.  
said On 5/6/2012 at 1:16 PM
Great Blog! Is caffeine ever used for medical purposes? If so, how is it used?   
said On 4/30/2012 at 12:17 AM
Good information, you told us how consuming coffee has negative effects on us, but are there any benefits it can bring to a human body as well?  
said On 4/29/2012 at 9:24 PM
@145074 Well, before I explain, I'll say that Caffeine is a psychoactive drug, which is the same class of drug as LSD. It is also a stimulant, which increase the amount of Adrenaline in one's body, so many of its side effects (anxiety, reddening skin, increased urination, etc.) stem from the body's over excited cells. It is in much larger doses that one begins to see effects common in drugs such as LSD (hallucinations, delusions, deprivation of oxygen, etc.), which are also products of the adrenaline. Once these effects are amplified to a great extent, they can be fatal, but this is only after 80-100 cups are consumed, depending on the person's body.  
said On 4/27/2012 at 2:47 PM
That was actually really informative, kudos :) How does the reaction in the nervous system become more harmful and eventually fatal as the quantity of caffeine is increased? Thanks!   
said On 4/23/2012 at 3:37 PM
@157565 There is not really a chemical reaction that occurs. What caffeine does is block the adenosine, which would normally slow down cellular activity. Instead, the caffeine causes them to over excite cells and produce adrenaline, which is what gives the felling of being wide awake.  
said On 4/19/2012 at 9:22 PM
@703000 The reason caffeine is addictive is due to a property shared by many drugs, which is called tolerance. Say a person starts out by drinking one cup of coffee every morning. Their body will adapt to the drug after a while, and the one cup of coffee (about 100 milligrams of caffeine) will become the body's "normal" requirement, and to achieve the same rush of energy and feeling of being awake, the person will require more (2 cups, for example). When the person does not ingest caffeine in the morning, the body will feel "deprived" of one of its "normal" substances, and will feel exceptionally tired. This is what causes people to require caffeine in the morning, as their body will not function without it. However, caffeine is relatively weak, and the affects of tolerance and addiction come much slower than with other drugs.  
said On 4/18/2012 at 11:21 PM
I really am much more informed now. Could you clarify a little more maybe on why I have heard caffeine is addicting? Is that because of a certain chemical...? Thanks  
said On 4/18/2012 at 9:05 PM
Wow! Great information, and great picture! It would be nice if you could tell me the chemical reaction that goes on regarding the consumption of caffeine. Otherwise, great blog!  
 
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