Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Neuroepidemiology. 2018;51(1-2):64-70. doi: 10.1159/000489960. Epub 2018 Jun 28.
Caffeine can exacerbate tremor. Reducing caffeine intake or switching to decaffeinated beverages can lessen tremor. Unaffected relatives of essential tremor (ET) cases often have mild, subclinical tremor. One question is whether the coffee and tea consumption pattern in these individuals differs from that of controls (Co).
We ascertained the patterns of coffee and tea intake using a structured questionnaire, and compared the use in unaffected first-degree relatives of ET cases (FD-ET) to the use in age-matched Co. Three measures of relative caffeinated coffee + tea to decaffeinated coffee + tea were constructed. Caffeine index 1 = (cups of caffeinated coffee + tea) - (cups of decaffeinated coffee + tea) consumed on the day of evaluation. Caffeine index 2 = (cups of caffeinated coffee + tea) - (cups of decaffeinated coffee + tea) consumed in a typical month. The percentage of coffee and tea that was caffeinated in a typical month was also calculated.
There were 263 individuals (190 FD-ET, 73 Co). Caffeine index 1 in FD-ET was less than 1-half that of Co (p = 0.001). Caffeine index 2 was similarly lower in FD-ET than Co (p = 0.027). The percentage of coffee and tea that was caffeinated in a typical month was also significantly lower in FD-ET than Co (p = 0.018).
The balance of caffeinated to decaffeinated beverages is different in FD-ET than Co. These data raise several intriguing questions. Among these is whether relatives of ET cases modify their caffeine consumption before disease onset.
咖啡因会加重震颤。减少咖啡因的摄入或改喝无咖啡因的饮料可以减轻震颤。原发性震颤（ET）患者的无病亲属通常有轻微的亚临床震颤。其中一个问题是，这些个体的咖啡和茶的消费模式是否与对照组（Co）不同。
我们使用结构化问卷确定了咖啡和茶的摄入模式，并比较了 ET 病例无病一级亲属（FD-ET）与年龄匹配的 Co 的使用情况。构建了三个衡量相对含咖啡因咖啡+茶与无咖啡因咖啡+茶的指标。咖啡因指数 1 = （评估日饮用的含咖啡因咖啡+茶的杯数）-（饮用的无咖啡因咖啡+茶的杯数）。咖啡因指数 2 = （一个典型月饮用的含咖啡因咖啡+茶的杯数）-（一个典型月饮用的无咖啡因咖啡+茶的杯数）。一个典型月内咖啡和茶的咖啡因含量百分比也进行了计算。
共有 263 人（190 名 FD-ET，73 名 Co）。FD-ET 的咖啡因指数 1 不到 Co 的一半（p = 0.001）。FD-ET 的咖啡因指数 2 也明显低于 Co（p = 0.027）。一个典型月内咖啡和茶的咖啡因含量百分比也明显低于 Co（p = 0.018）。
FD-ET 中含咖啡因和无咖啡因饮料的平衡与 Co 不同。这些数据提出了几个有趣的问题。其中一个问题是，ET 病例的亲属是否在疾病发作前改变了他们的咖啡因摄入量。
