Anatomy Paper 5

DOES CAFFEINE TRIGGER OR TREAT HEADACHES 1
Dakota Schroeder
Tippecanoe High School
Anatomy and Physiology
Mr.Hoffman
March 20, 2020

Caffeine is a drug that about 90% of Americans take, but it can also be a headache trigger
or headache helper. Everyone gets headaches from time to time. Caffeine is pretty much all
around us, and can be found in a lot of drinks, and even in some commonly chosen over-the-
counter pain relievers, but how is it affecting our heads? Have you ever thought if there's a
connection between headaches and caffeine? It may be possible for caffeine to cause and cure
headaches at both the same time.
You wouldn't believe it but in some cases caffeine can actually help with headaches.
That’s one of the reasons it’s an ingredient in a lot of popular pain relievers and drinks. By just
having caffeine alone, you can sometimes stop the pain of headaches. Caffeine generally helps
get rid of inflammation, which can lead to relief. Whether you take aspirin or ibuprofen they
work faster and can keep the pain go away when added with caffeine (Gunnars, 2018). A rare
condition called “hypnic headaches” reacts very well to caffeine. These usually happen in older
people, waking them in the middle of the night with serious pain. Doctors sometimes tell people
who get these to have a cup of coffee before bed (Marengo, 2019). Blood vessels have the ability
to enlarge before getting a headache or migraine. Caffeine has “vasoconstrictive” properties that
cause blood vessels to get smaller and restrict blood flow, which can help pain relief. When
caffeine is added to over the counter pain relievers the pain relieving effect is increased by 40%
(Gunnars, 2018). If you feel a headache, a cup of coffee might help lessen your symptoms.
On the other hand, too much of the substance can trigger them, caffeine does not directly
cause headaches. A caffeine headache occurs from withdrawals of caffeine after not having it for
a while or a few days. Though the physical side effects can be severe, only 2% of the population
suffers from caffeine headaches (Gunnars, 2018). Since caffeine restricts the blood vessels
around your brain, when you stop taking it they enlarge again, and can cause pain in your brain,
or also known as headaches. Caffeine can also play a factor in medication overuse, or what's
called rebound headaches. This can happen when you take too much of any kind of pain reliever
such as Aspirin (Marengo, 2019). When the medicine affects faid, the pain comes back a lot
worse than before. It’s simple for your body to get used to the effects of caffeine so when you
don’t have it, you have withdrawal. A headache is one of the many symptoms (Gunnars, 2018).
This can happen when you have caffeine everyday, even as little as a cup of coffee a day. But
this doesn’t mean you have to cut your caffeine off completely, try slowly decreasing your
caffeine intake, and remember it’s always best to enjoy in moderation.
There are a lot of positive benefits from coffee. For example, coffee can make you amster
as well as keep you up. The addictive main ingredient in coffee is caffeine. It is a stimulant and
is one of the most consumed substances in the world. Caffeine works through your brain by
stopping the effects of a neurotransmitter called adenosine (Gunnars, 2018). By blocking the
effects of adenosine, caffeine boosts transmitters in the brain and releases other neurotransmitters
like dopamine. Caffeine can also benefit by burning fat and improve physical performances.
Caffeine increases metabolism and raises the oxidation of fatty acids in your body (Marengo,
2019). It can also improve athletic performance including gathering fatty acids from the fat
tissue. Type 2 diabetes is a disease that has overtaken america. It has increased a few decades
and now affects about 300 million people (Gunnars, 2018). In some studies, coffee has been
matched with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. The reduction in risk can range from 23% all the
way up to 67%. There was a big review article that looked at 18 studies with a total of 457,922
participants. Each additional cup of coffee per day lowered the risk of type 2 diabetes by 7%.
Personally, caffeine plays a huge role in my everyday life. I feel like i'm inclined to have
my cup of coffee every morning or else i'm grumpy and not awake. Sometimes I wont have
coffee for a couple hours and can feel a headache coming on. What do I do? I go to my kitchen
and pour myself a cup of coffee and my headache instantly goes away. I think this research will
show people that having too much caffeine can make you have withdrawals after a while and can
tighten your blood vessels in your brain. After researching this I advise everyone who is a heavy
coffee drinker to drink in moderation.
In conclusion, I think there are definitely side effects of having too much caffeine but it
can also benefit you. It plays a huge role in many people's lives. Some people have headaches
and instantly start drinking coffee. I think that everyones brains are different and can react
differently to different caffeine. Caffeine is a drug that about 90% of Americans take, but it can
also be a headache trigger or headache helper.
Work Cited
Gunnars, Kris (2018, April 30). Why is Caffeine Good for You? Here Are 7 Reasons. Retreveed
from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/why-is-coffee-good-for-you#section1
Marengo, Katherine (2019, Nov 7). Is Caffeine bad for you? Retrieved from
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/271707
National Headache Foundation (2020, Jan 3). Does Caffeine Trigger or Treat Headaches.
Retrieved from https://headaches.org/2019/02/24/does-caffeine-trigg
Web MD (2020 Feb 8). The Link Between Caffeine and Headaches. Retrieved from
https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/triggers-caffeine#1

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DOES CAFFEINE TRIGGER OR TREAT HEADACHES 1

Tippecanoe High School

Anatomy and Physiology

March 20, 2020

headaches at both the same time.

caffeine intake, and remember it’s always best to enjoy in moderation.

coffee drinker to drink in moderation.

also be a headache trigger or headache helper.

Retrieved from https://headaches.org/2019/02/24/does-caffeine-trigg

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