Thursday, March 20, 2008

Caffeine Is the New Coke

Think about coffee and then think about the criteria for substance dependence (from First Aid 2008):

1. Tolerance - need more to achieve same effect
2. Withdrawal
3. Substance taken in larger amounts of over longer time than desired
4. Persistent desire or attempts to cut down
5. Significant energy spent obtaining, using, or recovering from substance
6. Important social, occupational, or recreational activities reduced because of substance use
7. Continued use in spite of knowing the problems that it causes

Creepy!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Stephanie, I'm planning a trial study involving taking saliva samples and analyzing them for caffeine. So I'm trying to find a lab that can analyze the samples, and I need price quotes so I can calculate how much this study will cost.

Since you're (I presume) inside UCSF I thought I would ask you to inquire for me. Is there a lab within UCSF that can do caffeine/saliva analysis? If not, is there an outside, commercial lab UCSF researchers send their samples to?

BTW: I live in SF and work at the California Academy of Sciences.

My trial study will consist of a neurologist instructing migraine patients to wean themselves from caffeine, to see what happens to their headaches. To verify compliance, subjects will self-sample saliva two or three (?) times per day.

(My hypothesis is that most subjects will fail to comply, but among those who do, if any, headaches will decrease.)

A local headache specialist is interested in participating. But he's asked me to gather info such as costs before we begin to design the study.

I'd appreciate any info you can provide.

Unknown said...

My email is barry_spencer@sbcglobal.net