Coffee consumption and shrinking pineal gland? Or just getting older?

[jay123]

Lifetime coffee consumption, pineal gland volume, and sleep quality in late life

AbstractStudy Objectives. Previous studies have shown that coffee consumption may suppress the production of melatonin in pinealocytes through competitive inhib

academic.oup.com

Previous studies have shown that coffee consumption may suppress the production of melatonin in pinealocytes through competitive inhibition of adenosine A2 receptors by caffeine. We investigated the impact of lifetime coffee consumption on pineal gland volume and the resulting effects on sleep quality.

Methods
We enrolled 162 cognitively normal elderly individuals among the participants in the Korean Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging and Dementia. We evaluated the patterns and amounts of coffee consumption using a study-specific standardized interview and assessed sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. We measured the volume of pineal parenchyma (VPP) by manually segmenting the pineal gland on high-resolution three-dimensional T1-weighted magnetic resonance images. We examined the impact of lifetime coffee consumption on the VPP and the resulting effects on sleep quality using analysis of covariance, multiple linear regression, and mediation analyses.

Results
We found that smaller VPP was associated with higher cumulative lifetime coffee consumption. Participants who consumed more than 60 cup-years of coffee had VPPs that were smaller by about 20% than individuals who consumed less than 60 cup-years of coffee. The VPP mediated the association between lifetime coffee consumption and sleep efficiency and quality.

Conclusions
Our findings suggest that high lifetime coffee consumption may reduce VPP, and that this reduction in VPP may impair the quality of sleep in late life.
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[Rinse & rePeat]

Lifetime coffee consumption, pineal gland volume, and sleep quality in late life

AbstractStudy Objectives. Previous studies have shown that coffee consumption may suppress the production of melatonin in pinealocytes through competitive inhib

academic.oup.com

Previous studies have shown that coffee consumption may suppress the production of melatonin in pinealocytes through competitive inhibition of adenosine A2 receptors by caffeine. We investigated the impact of lifetime coffee consumption on pineal gland volume and the resulting effects on sleep quality.

Methods
We enrolled 162 cognitively normal elderly individuals among the participants in the Korean Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging and Dementia. We evaluated the patterns and amounts of coffee consumption using a study-specific standardized interview and assessed sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. We measured the volume of pineal parenchyma (VPP) by manually segmenting the pineal gland on high-resolution three-dimensional T1-weighted magnetic resonance images. We examined the impact of lifetime coffee consumption on the VPP and the resulting effects on sleep quality using analysis of covariance, multiple linear regression, and mediation analyses.

Results
We found that smaller VPP was associated with higher cumulative lifetime coffee consumption. Participants who consumed more than 60 cup-years of coffee had VPPs that were smaller by about 20% than individuals who consumed less than 60 cup-years of coffee. The VPP mediated the association between lifetime coffee consumption and sleep efficiency and quality.

Conclusions
Our findings suggest that high lifetime coffee consumption may reduce VPP, and that this reduction in VPP may impair the quality of sleep in late life.
..

Yeah I would say old age. Why did they choose elderly people to do this study on when there was this obvious variable?

 

[jay123]

Yeah I would say old age. Why did they choose elderly people to do this study on when there was this obvious variable?

That is a good question. I guess because that is the only way you can get super duper long term coffee drinkers? They should look at coffee drinkers who are drinking it for 5 and 10 years and see if there is a difference. But coffee? That is part of my morning joy waking up.....hehe!