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Longer Lasting Caffeine
falser writes "Caffeine addicted geeks everywhere may rejoice that scientists have discovered a protein that appears to be responsible for amplifying the caffeine buzz. It also makes the effects last longer. Just one question: how soon until we have a new generation of ultra powerful caffeine products?"
The Chemical they are talking about (DARPP-32) is what makes as long lasting as it is in humans and mice. We already have it in our brains and it creates a positive feedback mechanism that keeps the stimulating effects of caffeine going.
The mice without DARPP-32 reacted very minimally to ~6 cups of coffee worth of caffeine.
Is this the end yet?...How 'bout now...how 'bout now...how 'bout now?
From the article it seems that the proteine is already in the human (or mice's) brain, and that it prolonges the effect of caffeine, but the effect of adding such proteine in the body directly aren't clear. Maybe it has more or less the same effect of caffeine, maybe if you take it together with caffeine the body feels that there is already enough of it and you have the (gulp!) opposite effect. So one of the few researchs that could have helped caffeine-addicted people ends helping those sad "decaffeinated" people out there, and this is not good. :)
Me, I'll just stick to real coffee and use chocolate to enhance the effect of caffeine.
By the way, I wonder whether the big number of people in favour of "caffeinated" as opposed do "decaffeinated" in the pool has something to do with people from slashdot. :)
Sorry, no Jolt++ for you.
Perhaps I have a genetic mutation that causes this protein to not be present. Researchers also said that it may play a role in enhancing the effects of cocaine and amphetemines. If coke's reputation weren't so dangerous, it might be worth snorting a small line to see if I was immune to that too (though I do not indulge in illicit drugs for recreational purposes). Of course the U.S.'s "War on Drugs" makes such research practically impossible. Perhaps people with an excess of this protein are more likely to become addicted to coke. Certainly formal research in this area might go a long way toward understanding the chemical basis for certain drug addictions.
You could've hired me.
Wouldn't it be really convenient to just slap on a caffiene patch in the morning and forget about it? I'm sure there are times when, for whatever reasons (medical, maybe) drinking lots of coffee/coke is not advisable. We need a patch!
I've already switched to methamphetamines!
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
Today, Starbucks(SBUX) announced a $10 million dollar research grant prgram to alleviate the effects of the 'caffeine protein', DARPP-32, on the population.
"We believe our customers are impeded from the full experience of our product by this deleterious, evil protein." an unamed spokesman said.
"Our customers are asking for this." he continued, "It's the least we can do. That and make sure we have another super-grande-lofat-mocha-latte-ice" ready and waiting for them."
"Remember, any tool can be the right tool." -- Red Green
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Never tried it myself, though.
Method of processing duck feet
A thread about caffeine posted at 9:35 AM the last day of LinuxWorld...who's gonna be awake to read it?
Must be, I was a hyper child growing up in the 70's and I took ritalin up until the early 80's. Nowadays, I gots ta have my coffee in the morning, even though it has no effect on keeping me awake. I take a coffee break at work usually around 10 in the morning. I don't know why I even bother, because by 10:30 I fall asleep in my chair and damn near fall out of it. I've tried ritalin again recently, and sure, it does keep me awake, but then I would fall asleep rather suddenly instead of slowly dropping off like when I drink coffee. And I like to drink iced tea before going to bed, Mad River Oblong tea being one of my favorites. Except I have to get up and pee at 2 AM. But sleep aids usually have the opposite effect on me, they keep me awake.
Seriously. The naringin in grapefruit prevents the breakdown of xanthines in the liver. The net effect is that certain pharmacological substances last longer. It works with other drugs too. It can conceivably contribute to OD-type situations as well. Also, as someone above said, the amino acid tyrosine also will potentiate the effects, as will other substances. Bodybuilders use this for dieting and have known about this for years. They are after all mostly walking lab experiments
could also be a big bladder.