Another challenge to coffee's safety....Another challenge to coffee's safety . . . Most Americans drink caffeinated beverages, with coffee and tea among the most popular. But according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report in the October AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, heavy caffeine consumption may increase the risk of osteoporosis -- a condition involving bone loss and embrittlement Embrittlement A general set of phenomena whereby materials suffer a marked decrease in their ability to deform (loss of ductility) or in their ability to absorb energy during fracture (loss of toughness), with little change in other mechanical properties, such , contributing to the high rate of hip fractures hip fracture Orthopedic surgery A femoral fracture which affects 1/6 white ♀–US during life Epidemiology 250,000/yr–US Specifics Proximal femur; 90+% femoral neck, intertrochanteric; 5-10% are subtrochanteric Risk factors Tall, thin ♀, among the elderly. Researchers with Boston University Boston University, at Boston, Mass.; coeducational; founded 1839, chartered 1869, first baccalaureate granted 1871. It is composed of 16 schools and colleges. , Brown University in Province, R.I., and the Framingham (Mass.) Study examined data on 3,170 elderly men and women taking part in the long-running Framingham project, in which vlunteers have answered questionnaires and undergone health exams every two years for decades. In analyzing caffeine consumption and hip fractures between 1971 and 1985, the researchers calculated that volunteers with a history of drinking 2.5 to three cups of caffeinated coffee daily, or twice that much tea, experienced a 69 percent greater risk of osteoporosis than did caffeine abstainers. Those drinking more than 3.5 cups of coffee or seven cups of tea appear to have increased their risk by 82 percent compared with those who avoided caffeine. The researchers say these findings square with animal studies showing that caffeine increases urinary calcium excretion excretion, process of eliminating from an organism waste products of metabolism and other materials that are of no use. It is an essential process in all forms of life. In one-celled organisms wastes are discharged through the surface of the cell. and may inhibit gastric absorption of calcium in the elderly. |
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