Caffeine in Coffee Found Beneficial to Asthmatics

Caffeine may have some benefits for asthmatics. They apparently can breathe much more easily after consuming a few cups of coffee, a team of scientists reports.

But there are some provisos that researchers say asthmatics should heed before taking a big gulp of coffee and deep breath of fresh air.

The latest coffee study, conducted by researchers at UCLA, shows that caffeine consumption equivalent to three cups of coffee per day surprisingly improved lung function for a group of adult asthmatics.

“People drink a lot of coffee in this country,” said Dr. Henry Gong, the study’s principal investigator. “And included among coffee drinkers are a lot of people with breathing disorders such as asthma so we wanted to see exactly what was going on.”

Gong found that the amount of caffeine contained in three cups of coffee tends to open the bronchial tubes of the lungs, thus acting as a bronchodilator and facilitating easier breathing for the study subjects.

“Indeed it bronchodilates,” said Gong. “But I wouldn’t recommend it as a replacement for theophylline (a commonly prescribed asthma medication) unless the person was stranded on an island.”

The investigation shows that each cup of coffee consumed by the 10 people in the study contained about 150 milligrams of caffeine and had a collective effect that was about 40% as effective as the usually prescribed dosage of theophylline.

“The bottom line was that caffeine increased lung function in the major parameters that we looked at,” he said. “This included an increase in pulse rate, which told us that there was a drug effect.

“Apparently, the more caffeine consumed, the better lung function became and the more air they were able to exhale.”

But even with such seemingly positive effects for asthmatics, Gong said caffeine still has a long list of drawbacks.

“Some of the people in the study suffered gastrointestinal upset, others experienced nervousness,” the specialist explained.

Gong also noted that previous studies have linked excessive caffeine consumption to such disparate ailments as insomnia, heart irregularities and delirium.

Moreover, for caffeine to have its breathing-improvement effect, Gong said asthmatics would have to continually drink coffee to “medicate themselves because the effect of caffeine is very short-lived.”

When isolated from coffee, Gong said scientists have found that caffeine is a bitter, colorless alkaloid that when consumed in moderation acts as a mild stimulant that increases both heart rate and urine production. Caffeine also is found in tea, cola nuts and cocoa.

Gong said he now is studying the possibility that caffeine may adversely combine with theophylline in the body, creating side effects in some asthmatics.

“It’s very possible that caffeine also increases lung function in non-asthmatics,” Gong said. “But I don’t think the change would be that distinguishable and I’d never recommend that people drink coffee just because they think it improves lung function in asthmatics. There are just too many side effects.”