Depression, ketamine or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can be effective — and new research has found that these work by triggering adenosine surges in the brain.
Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors, and therefore might reduce adenosine, but regular coffee drinking appears to protect against depression — the so-called coffee paradox.
Researchers are investigating how to solve this paradox — by reducing caffeine before treatment while still getting coffee’s protective effects.
According to the World Health OrganizationTrusted Source, 5.7% of all adults, some 332 million people worldwide, are affected by depression. For many, standard prescription medications relieve symptoms. However, for
1those who do not respond to regular medications, other treatments are required.
Caffeine and the coffee paradox for depression
Caffeine is the world’s most commonly consumed psychoactive drug, and it is an adenosine receptor antagonist, so could it impede ketamine, ECT, and aIH treatments?
“Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors,” Wong told Medical News Today, “and research shows this can actually interfere with the antidepressant effects of ketamine and ECT—at least in lab animals, and likely in humans too.”
