Asthma Symptoms? Try Caffeine
(this article can be found in the NY Times)
The chemical structure of caffeine resembles that of a common asthma medication that relaxes the airway muscles and relieves respiratory problems, reports Anahad O’Connor.
In a 2007 study in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, researchers pooled and analyzed the results of a half dozen clinical trials looking at the effects of caffeine on asthmatics. They found that caffeine produced small improvements in airway function for up to four hours, compared with a placebo, and that even a small dose — less than the amount in a cup of Starbucks coffee — could improve lung function for up to two hours.
