Circle of Life

Random 'rantings' of a middle aged medical school professor of physiology that has returned to his 'roots' to find a dream position in a not so dreaming environemnt.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

coffee gene?

Now they are getting personal! A gene that may increase your risk from drinking more that 1 cup a day of coffee. (excuse me while I take a sip of coffee). All I can say is I hope I am one of the 2/3 of folks who DON'T have this bad gene. I drink from 2-5 cups/day and if I have the bad gene, then I guess I would have to quit, but I enjoy a good cup of coffee in the mornings to jump start my day and throughout the day, to keep me awake! How dare they try to put a bad spin on coffee like this! I did a bit of research and apparently there is a variant of the gene whose job it is to break down caffeine quickly. The "bad" gene does it much more slowly, therefore, the 1/2 life of caffeine in your plasma dramatically increases, ergo, higher risk for BP increases and heart attacks (though the risk of heart attack is almost negligible). What next, a gene that makes you get drunker quicker from beer! Hey, not a bad idea, should save on beer if it takes fewer to "pass you out", right? I found a good site for research and background into caffeine and coffee. Cut a past the link below if you are interested:

http://www.cosic.org/background-on-coffee/history-of-coffee

Good day!

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