Caffeine – Nursing Research (Chapter 4 & 5)
Chapter 4
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Chapter 5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusion
Based on the significant findings of the study, the following conclusions were made:
1. The typical 3rd year nursing student respondents are female aged 20 – 21 years old; and they have a habit of drinking caffeinated products.
2. The student respondents perceive that caffeine intake has its physiological and psychological effects in an individual.
3. Evidently, environmental factors such as family and friends affect the habitual drinking of caffeinated products of our respondents.
Based on the result of this study, caffeine has been widely used by almost individual and they considered it as part of their everyday lives. It has been so popular because of its known physiological and psychological effect on human system.
One of its popular effects is related to sleep pattern of an individual. Based on the result of the survey, most of the respondents have overcome sleepiness by using either coffee or soft drinks which both contain caffeine. This effect of caffeine was also observed on the experimental research done by Mikkelsen on 1978. According to him, caffeine inhibits deeper stages of sleep as opposed to disturbances of the REM stage which was also been documented by Colton on his study. Non-coffee drinkers were more sensitive to coffee’s insomnic effect whereas coffee drinkers were relatively insensitive in this regard. Non-coffee drinkers experienced disturbed sleep patterns and delayed onset of sleep. Mueller-Limmroth (Stephenson, 1977) showed that the quality of the first three hours of sleep was impaired by the ingestion of coffee before retiring. This is approximately equal to the half-life of caffeine in the body. Goldstein did also an extensive work on the effect of coffee and showed that coffee drinkers slept more soundly when they took placebo as opposed to caffeine in coffee. Caffeine is known to cause insomnia because of its central nervous system stimulating activity. In fact, its major therapeutic use is to allay sleep and drowsiness, being the only OTC stimulant approved by the FDA.
Using caffeine as an stimulant on endurance level of an individual has also been a subject to several study and it was also considered in this study. According to the respondents on this study, they feel more energetic and tend to work longer and faster. This effect is explained on the theory which focuses on caffeine’s ability to cause the body to burn fatter and fewer carbohydrates. Glycogen is the principle fuel for muscles, but fat is the most abundant resource that the body uses for energy. Caffeine enters the body and forces the working muscles to utilize as much fat as possible. This delays the immediate depletion of glycogen. Studies show that in the first fifteen minutes of exercise caffeine has the potential to reduce the loss of glycogen by fifty percent. When this happens, the saved glycogen can be used for the remainder of the workout where normally it would be entirely depleted.
Caffeine has also been associated to some issue regarding the effect on the intellectual capacity of an individual. Based on the result of the survey done, respondents did not feel the effect of it on their intellectual capacity. According to some study, coffee helped them think more clearly and increase intellectual speed but not intellectual power. Subjects in experiments do things like read and fill out crossword puzzles faster-but not, unfortunately, more accurately.
It was also included in this study the related effect of caffeine on the hydration status of an individual. Based on the result of the survey, almost of the respondents did feel thirsty after taking in caffeine products but have not feel any change on skin turgor. According to some studies done, caffeine has a diuretic effect as what has been documented by Colton.
Based on the last theory about caffeine which we also presented on this study, caffeine withdrawal causes headache and migraine. Caffeine’s ability to potentate severe headache and nausea/vomiting, combined with its near-universal use, should make caffeine the prime suspect in the hunt for the mysterious cause of migraine without aura. Yet neither caffeine nor caffeine withdrawal is considered a major cause of headache or migraine. Instead, the prevailing view is that caffeine is merely one among many factors that influence primary headache.
Recommendation
1. There is no current scientific evidence that demonstrates the occasional use of moderate doses of caffeine (100-200 mg) adversely affects the overall health of most individuals. This drug can be effective in reducing drowsiness and prompting mental alertness in the mild-to-moderately fatigued person.
2. However, frequent use of caffeine should be avoided. The only way to deal effectively with fatigue is to rest. Masking the fatigue with caffeine only postpones the inevitable and should not be viewed as a solution to the problem. In addition, if used excessively, tolerance develops to the stimulant action of the caffeine causing the desired effects to be diminished. If OTC stimulant products are used, consumption of caffeine-containing beverages should be reduced to avoid ingesting toxic doses of caffeine.
3. The Respondents should be aware that coffee tea or cola are not the only caffeinated products, but also in other food, drinks and medicines that they take.
4. The respondent should know that, caffeine act as an adenosine impostor. They fool the body into thinking that adenosine is circulating, but they produce no depressive effect of their own. Its effect is the opposite of what adenosine does: caffeine makes one respondent to feel more alert, increase intellectual speed, increase gastric secretion, makes him/her urinate more and stimulate respiration.
5. Respondent should also know that primary headache such as migraine, is due to withdrawal to caffeine.
6. For respondent with asthma, also caffeine works as bronchodilator, widen the air passages in the lungs and eases breathing. And also it might be something of aphrodisiac.
7. Caffeine has the ability to burn more fats and fewer carbohydrates of one respondent.
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