The results of the study show benefits in learning and reinforcement of certain types of memory
Neuroscientists at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) have positively assessed the Scheduled use of caffeine as part of the therapeutic arsenal to alleviate some of the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), given the controversy over the use of certain medications.
UPC researchers have made a review of preclinical studies in animal models and have concluded that the prescribed consumption of caffeine can increase attention and retention capacity in adolescents and adults with ADHD, a psychiatric pathology whose diagnosis has increased exponentially in the last twenty years.
Experts estimate that ADHD currently affects between 2% and 5% of the child population in Spain, an average of one or two minors per classroom, and up to 4% of the adult population.
Despite this high incidence, the treatment of this pathology and its therapeutic approach are controversial and very different depending on each patientthe symptoms it presents and its intensity.
For this reason, scientists are investigating different components and substances that are capable of offering new treatment opportunities for patients diagnosed with ADHD.
Now, UOC researchers, coordinated by Professor of Neuroscience Diego Redolar, a researcher in the Cognitive NeuroLab group, have analyzed the possibility of including caffeine in the useful therapeutic arsenal to mitigate some symptoms of ADHD in the face of controversy over the use of some medications such as methylphenidate.
Benefits of prescribed caffeine
research, a systematic review of animal studies published in open access in the scientific journal Nutrients, has concluded that the Scheduled Caffeine Consumption May Increase Attention and retention capacity in adolescents and adults suffering from this disorder.
“The therapeutic arsenal to alleviate ADHD is limited and there is some debate about the use of some types of medications and stimulants, especially during childhood or adolescence. For this reason, we value studying the efficacy of other substances such as caffeine”, Javier Vázquez, a researcher also from the Cognitive NeuroLab group, explained.
According to the authors, this is the first systematic review that has been done and their results link caffeine consumption in different animal models of ADHD with a increased attention and concentration, benefits in the learning and reinforcements of certain types of memory.
“This substance improves cognitive procedures and increases the capacity and flexibility of attention, in both spatial and selective attention like in the working and short-term memory“, stressed Vázquez, who has assured that the controlled treatment with caffeine “does not alter blood pressure nor does it lead to an increase or decrease in body weight”.
Does not affect hyperactivity
However, the researchers admit that Caffeine works for these symptomsbut the results are not clear in relation to other characteristic symptoms of ADHD, such as hyperactivity and impulsivity.
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“In diagnoses where the problem is purely attention caffeine may be a suitable therapy; however, if there is a symptomatological presence of hyperactivity or impulsivity, you have to be more cautious”, pointed out Vázquez, who recalled that “ADHD is not properly diagnosed in adults, although there is a lot of diagnosis in child and adolescent stages”.
“We are not against ADHD medicationbut we are open to investigate all possible options to improve these types of disorders and to be able to use caffeine from a therapeutic point of view under all the corresponding medical supervision, through prescribed treatment and follow-up”, concluded Vázquez.