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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1980)
ocal THE BATTALION Page 7 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1980 tudents often abuse stimulant the Bi Warn he show affeine may be addictive, harmful Tsityoflt, ing”at4p, By DEBBIE NELSON Battalion Staff jng ... an alarm goes off It’s 6 Oh, your pounding head! ou stumble to the kitchen. Heat |ter, dump sparkling brown crys- into a cup. Pour, drink, inhale. mv JCofi'ec — first cup of the morning. t 1 " 1 iurheadache slowly goes away. 11 MtCfts lj ounc i f am iliar? Maybe you’re ‘MU Wo® Elided to caffeine. Evidence indi- <i- atSt. Jhg that caffeine — contained in he, tea, chocolate, cola drinks fi even some analgesic and pain- jjief drugs — is addictive and poss- harmful to your health, he May 1980 World Press Re said, “Caffeine dependency [mifests itself through mood nges, sleep disruptions and with- wal symptoms that occur when * substance is stopped ... irritabil- ] rapid or skipping heartbeat and itheadedness.’’ arious medical studies have wn possible linkage between caf- intake and incidence of birth jeffects, anxiety and fibrocystic ast disease, which causes benign buit painful breast nodules! e ■Yarning labels on products con- fl Biing caffeine are now being dis- ■Vigder’s Guide to Over-the- Co iter Drugs questions the pre sence of caffeine in pain relievers and Hdgesic drugs when it has not been ■ven safe and effective, orps dogsiBvigder says: “If the FDA permits ■ inclusion of caffeine ... the least knives, abprotection that consumers should avebeen enjoy is a warning such as: Warning s as! police (rate ! feature wj| • at 200311 -gricultte. t :e from horities sheriffs ini ch wamntl brown niji icre Mrs This Medicine Contains Ingre- jnts That Have Not Been Proven Active For Pain Relief, azel Wallace, consumer affairs erfor the FDA regional office in lias, said labeling of all products taining caffeine is still specula- but added, “It’s my personal ing that these warnings will be heDepartB re; it’s just a matter of time.” tic laborato dence, ak| 11 be flow usbandi 17 durint laker told i j eft home as Dr. Susan Robinson, assistant pro fessor of medical pharmacology at Texas A&M University, said, “I’m afraid if you start putting warnings on things, people won’t heed them, un less it s shown to have a clear-cut bad effect. You can’t warn people not to overeat.” The November 1978 Science Digest said a lethal dose of caffeine for a man is 10 grams. Overdose is nearly impossible. “An attempt to kill oneself by drinking tea or coffee would be an almost impossible feat requiring the very rapid consumption of 80 to 100 cups (of coffee),” Science Digest said. Amounts of caffeine contained in varous products are: coffee — 100- 150mg per cup — cola drinks — 35- 55 mg per bottle — tea — 100-150 mg per cup — cocoa — 50 mg per cup — certain analgesic or allergy tablets — 15-30 mg per tablet. Robinson said, “Caffeine isn’t an extremely harmful drug, though it’s a stimulant, a legal stimulant.” Dr. Kelly Hester, also an assistant professor of medical pharmacology at Texas A&M, said, “Any caffeine is not good for your system, even in moderation.” But he added, “The majority of people consider that caffeine is not bad.” People with heart trouble or ulcers should limit caffeine intake, Robinson siad, as it can raise blood pressure and produce acid in the sto mach. Pregnant women should also be wary of caffeine, she said, because tests with rats have linked caffeine use with birth defects in the offspring. Hester said caffeine use is “just like being stressed — just like a stressful situation. If you are under stress and do drink caffeine, then what you’re doing is compounding the situation.” Coffee and other foods are not the only source of caffeine. Over-the- counter stimulant tablets contain the drug, typically consumed by stu dents trying to stay awake to study for exams. Dr. C.B. Goswick, director of the University’s A.P. Beutel Health Center, said he sees two or three students each semester around finals time who have taken too many sti mulants. “We see a fair amount, nothing serious,” Goswick said. “They’re aw fully jittery, nervous and high. We let them down gently,” he said. “Letting them down,” means administering a mild sedative or simply waiting for effects of the drug to wear off. “Sometimes they end up missing the test they stayed up to study for,” Goswick said. Caffeine within the body is meta bolized within three to five hous, the World Press Review said. So most of its effects are gone overnight. Hester said of student stimulant- takers: “A lot of people do really well in those situations -— habitual cram mers who work well under pressure. “It’s better than an ampheta mine,” he said. Goswick said of the tablets, “Some people have the idea that if one is good, two is better. And if two is better, four is wonderful.” He added, “It’s a case of people taking one or two, not getting the desired effect, so they take a couple more and it slips up on them.” World Press Review said 20 per cent of North American adults take in 500-600 mg of caffeine daily. Ten percent may consume 1,000 mg per day, which could have damaging re sults. iddy defends ‘kill’ intent dicine prts condition, i earlier kaJ: ssa, ly a ople, inclui d reporteli ; Mrs. Baki s snowstonj United Press International ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — For- |r Watergate figure G. Gordon dy said he conspired to kill Jack lerson because the columnist had ten “people killed” by exposing nameofaU.S. intelligence agent jrking abroad. fThere is responsible public dis- ing hoursa* rse anc ] q iere are irresponsible ■lie acts, ” Liddy said Tuesday at t ^ ie University of New Mex- nd hadasMB ‘jf j s one to have a differ- s doing. :e of opinion. It’s another thing to • business, r e people killed.” replied, dddy spoke about 90 minutes to a ocery stoid st V student audience as part of ig a worn® na l!°nal tour promoting his auto- ription. graphy “Will. ” i said the* P es Poke only briefly of his Water- sons area* F activities in 1972, saying the ath indfaii P^'n was a political intelligence- wa s to lx r er ' n ? operation and had nothing to do with national security. He said it was “something that had been done in this country every four years for a very long time.” He criticized the military and the all-volunteer army saying the United States’ most sophisticated tank per forms well “only on the freeway.” Liddy said, “It is not fair to expect people of that mental ability (volun teers) to be able to perform with modern sophisticated, advanced weaponry.” AUTO TUNE “The Inflation Fighters” (Formerly Bill’s & Jay’s Auto Tune) "Quality Service.. Personal Attention” TUNE-UPS & OIL CHANGES... by Appointment Only 846-9086 3611 S. 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