Summary

Original source:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=34458

Details

• A study led by Johns Hopkins investigators has shown that women with a serious caffeine habit and a family history of alcohol abuse are more likely to ignore advice to stop using caffeine during pregnancy.
• Griffiths, whose past studies of caffeine use helped establish the drug's addictive nature, collected data on caffeine and alcohol use from 44 pregnant women seeking prenatal care from a private obstetrics and gynecology practice in a suburban community.
• Results showed that half of the women who had both a lifetime history of caffeine dependence and a family history of alcoholism ignored their doctor's recommendation to abstain from caffeine use and consumed caffeine in amounts greater than those considered safe during pregnancy.
• "This study helps to validate the diagnosis of caffeine dependence as a clinically significant phenomenon," Griffiths said.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has advised pregnant women to "avoid caffeine-containing foods and drugs, if possible, or consume them only sparingly," and Health Canada and the Food Standards Agency of the United Kingdom have advised that pregnant women consume less than 300 milligrams per day of caffeine, according to the study.
• Caffeine is the most widely used mood-altering drug in the world, with 80 percent to 90 percent of children and adults in North America regularly consuming caffeine-containing foods.
• Mean daily caffeine consumption among adult caffeine consumers in the United States has been estimated to be 280 milligrams per day, which is equivalent to about three 6-ounce cups of coffee or five 16-ounce bottles of cola soft drink, according to the study.
• For the Hopkins-led study, a lifetime diagnosis of caffeine dependence was established using criteria listed in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).
• The interviews required 60 to 90 minutes and consisted of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID, axis I) and the Family Alcohol and Drug Survey.

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