You should check out the new website of the Indian Stuttering Association: here. The website is very functional and informative, but probably needs a more human edge to appeal to a wider audience.
I wish them all the best. After all they seem to be strong supporters and avid readers of my blog! :-)
3 comments:
Hi Tom.
I was intrigued by this page on the Indian Stammering Association website (http://stammer.in/articles/39-cat-general-2/120-stuttering-and-caffeine.html), which suggests a relation between stuttering and caffeine. The logic is (a) that caffeine leads to increased dopamine in the brain, and (b) higher dopamine levels are correlated with increased stuttering. Thus, more coffee leads to more stuttering.
I'm reasonably comfortable that there's evidence behind (b). (That's of course the theory behind pagoclone, as well as the basis for the use of dopamine suppressing medications for stuttering by Dr. Jerry Maguire and his colleagues at his center in Califoria for the medical treatment of stuttering.) But this is the first I've heard of (a), that caffeine increases dopamine. The evidence on the Indian Association website (link above) is tenuous. And I haven't yet been able to find any evidence of a link between caffeine and dopamine levels.
Do you (or any of your readers) know anything about this theory? Do you know any online source to look for basic information on the pharmacology of caffeine? (I don't feel like spending $200 on a pharmacology text!) We know that there's a relation between anxiety and stuttering, and that too much coffee can increase anxiety. But I'm raising a different question: is there any good evidence that caffeine increases dopamine levels (which we believe is correlated with increased stuttering)? Do you know anything about this theory?
Regards,
Ora
I don't drink. So just imagine how much more I would stutter....
I don't know anything about caffeine, but why don't you just google both keywords
Tom
Well, I have the opposite experience. Drinking coffee actually reduces my stutter. The stronger the coffee the greater the reduction. And I know others who have the same experience.
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