Coffee???

And here's a tribute to Michael Scott - "World's Best Boss"

Hi!
So I know we here at LMU get a break this week because our school is giving us Easter Break, but for everyone else out there as you slog your way through papers and finals, and for all of us on the Bluff as we make our final push toward finals and graduation, I was thinking about how oftentimes we neglect to care for ourselves during the insanity. I know time is a limited resource we all have little of, and I know that many of us tend to burn that candle every which way we can come finals week, but I was wondering if the methods we use to keep ourselves awake (think massive amounts of caffeine here) are really helping us in the long run. You know me, when I want to know what's up, I go to google scholar, and once I was there I found this study on the effects of caffeine on human salivary melatonin levels, as well as circadian rhythms. If that sounds like a bunch of nonsense to you, melatonin is a hormone secreted by the hypothalamus (brain) which regulates our sleep patterns. Melatonin is closely linked to serotonin, which regulates mood and (to an extent) how happy we are throughout a given day. If you can remember melatonin at night and serotoin during the day, you're golden. Oh, and circadian rhythms are just a fancy term for describing our daily cycles, (Latin: circa = around diem = days), so our circadian rhythms are the patterns which we fall into in terms of when we're asleep, sleepy, alert and awake.

Here's the abstract for the study in case you're interested:

Abstract

The effects of caffeine ingestion and exposure to bright light, both separately and in combination, on salivary melatonin and tympanic temperature were assessed in humans. Four treatments during a 45.5 h sleep deprivation period were compared: Dim Light-Placebo, Dim Light-Caffeine, Bright Light-Placebo and Bright-Light Caffeine. The Dim Light-Caffeine condition (200 mg twice each night) relative to the Dim Light-Placebo condition suppressed nighttime melatonin levels and attenuated the normal decrease in temperature. Combining caffeine ingestion with bright light exposure (≥2000 lux) suppressed melatonin and attenuated the normal nighttime drop in temperature to a larger degree than either condition alone; i.e. effects were additive. Circadian effects were also observed in that the amplitude and phase of the temperature rhythm were altered during treatment. These findings establish that the human melatonin system is responsive to caffeine. Other evidence suggests that caffeine may influence melatonin and temperature levels through antagonism of the neuromodulator adenosine.

(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6SYR-3PF5C55-3G&_user=945462&_coverDate=01%2F30%2F1997&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000048964&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=945462&md5=6c1062feeb4bbd099748836956ffe971&searchtype=a)

In a nutshell, caffeine intake affects our melatonin levels, which in turn affects how we fall asleep, and for how long we stay asleep. This is something you might want to consider when you're up at 3AM two days after your finals are over. Trust me, I'm doing 40 days of water (no soda, juice, slurpees, milkshakes, COFFEE or tea for 40 days of Lent) for religious reasons (http://40days.bloodwatermission.com/), and I know life sans caffeine can be a little rough. However, if we don't take care of ourselves during finals, who will?