MESSAGE
| DATE | 2013-07-28 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Cure Suicide Now - More Coffee
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http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/07/coffee_drinking_linked_to_lower_suicide_rates_in_new_study.html
By Ben Axelson | baxelson-at-syracuse.com
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on July 27, 2013 at 12:00 PM, updated July 27, 2013 at 12:03 PM
A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that
adults who drink two to four cups of coffee a day have a 50 percent
lower risk of suicide than adults who drink decaffeinated coffee, very
little coffee or no coffee at all.
Medical News Today reports that researchers reviewed three other studies
to carry out their analysis, including data on over 200,000 people.
Questionnaires were used to assess people's eating and drinking habits,
and an examination of death certificates provided data on suicides
within the study sample group. There were 277 deaths by suicide within
the population.
The research was designed to analyze all forms of caffeine consumption,
but coffee was the main source of caffeine, making up 71 percent across
the three studies.
One of the studies used had previously been analyzed to show that coffee
was linked to a lower risk of depression in women. The Nurses Health
Study followed more than 50,000 participants for 10 years, according to
Huffington Post.
In that study, drinking two to three cups a day was linked to a 15
percent lower risk of depression, while drinking four or more cups a day
showed a 20 percent lower risk.
"Caffeine is known to affect the brain," said study co-author Dr. Albert
Ascherio. "It modulates the release of mood transmitters." He also
pointed out that coffee may cause or worsen anxiety.
Ascherio and other researchers involved in the study have cautioned that
non-drinkers shouldn't read these findings as a nudge to take up the
habit, but that regular drinkers should feel confident that there is
likely some positive link between coffee and lowered depression and
suicide rates.
If that wasn't enough to go make you top off your mug, The Atlantic took
these findings and combined them with other recent studies to generate
the four characteristics of the (hypothetically) happiest person on
Earth.
According to the article, this fictitious person would be a 23-year-old
coffee drinking Republican from San Jose, California.
A study by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of
Economics found that people report the greatest happiness at 23 and 69
years of age. CareerBliss.com reported San Jose has the happiest
employees due to development of a modern, flexible work culture. And the
Journal of Politics/Brock and Ryerson Universities/Pew Research
collaborated on a study suggesting that throughout history, Republicans
have been happier than Democrats.
Of course, this combination of factors means that a very small amount of
people actually meet all the characteristics, since only six percent of
San Jose's population is between the ages of 20 and 24, only 27 percent
of the county voted Republican in the last presidential election, and
only 40 percent of young people drink coffee.
We may be geographically far from the happiest city in America here in
Central New York, but if you're looking to brighten your day with a
little coffee, Parade has 12 ways to get the flavor and the caffeine
beyond the cup.
The eccentric list includes everything from coffee-rubbed steaks and
bacon to a do-it-yourself coffee exfoliating scrub.
Does coffee make you happier? Leave a comment below.
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