THE EFFECT OF CAFFEINE DEPENDENCE TO SLEEPING PATTERN OF SHS STUDENTS

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

As we go on with our lives, we keep getting busier and busier. We don't have much to do back
then, when we were a child, and we still get adequate sleep. Fast forward to our adolescence stage, we've
been pretty busy with our lives, including our school work and the performance tasks we need to do. A lot
more if we have to act in accordance with the deadline set by our professor. So to finally finish all our given
task with multiple subject areas, we tend to cram and multi-task, as well as stay up late. In order to do this,
instead of taking sugary products, drinks which typically have caffeine are taken, a cup of coffee or tea to
be precise. We kept doing this until we were addicted to caffeine.
As to what happens when we already have an overreliance on caffeine and perhaps eventually our
body rejects the effects of caffeine and which we call tolerance. In order to fully understand what caffeine
dependence is, we first need to start defining what caffeine is and its adverse effect on the normal human
body.
According to Hilliard (2020), caffeine is a psychoactive stimulant that has the capacity to raise
concentration, enhance metabolism and improve mood. It means that it's a drug in actuality. As Gavin, MD,
(2014) has described, caffeine is a drug that is naturally produced in the leaves and seeds of many plants.
It is also artificially produced and added to certain foods.
Since many of us rely too much on caffeine, whether in the morning or in the evening, we don't
even realize what the other effects of caffeine are, other than the above-mentioned impact. But caffeine is
doing so much more than just helping to keep you awake. Caffeine alone does not provide any nutrient
benefit as stated by Pietrangelo (2017). Researchers have also found that people who drink coffee
regularly have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and dementia, and have reduced suicide risk
by 45 per cent. These benefits are limited to people who drink high octane coffee, not decaf. But decaf
doesn't mean that some food or drink doesn't contain any caffeine in it. Decaf coffees and teas have little
caffeine than their regular counterparts, but still comprise some caffeine. (Commissioner's Office, 2020). So
what is the amount of caffeine intake deemed to be normal? For healthy adults, the FDA cited 400
milligrams per day—about four or five cups of coffee—as a quantity not generally associated with
hazardous, negative effects.
Not to get away with the main reason why the researchers are doing this study, saying that relying
on caffeine can have an impact on someone's sleeping pattern as it generally helps us stay awake. First of
all, we need to properly understand what is the natural sleeping pattern of a human body working with its
melatonin. This Melatonin is a chemical discovered normally in the body. The primary objective of
melatonin hormone is to make your brain respond to darkness. It helps with the timing of your circadian
rhythms (24-hour internal clock) and sleep. Being exposed to light at night may block the production of
melatonin according to NCCIH (2021).
It is also asserted that the consumption of caffeine resulted in decreased sleep quality and
secretion of melatonin. (Shilo et al., 2002). Melatonin is also accountable for the sleep pattern of the body.
This sleep pattern is described as a sleep-wake pattern, a biological rhythm that controls the body as to
when it should sleep and when it should wake up. Normally, young children and older people sleep lighter
than adults and teenagers. The average individual typically sleeps 7 hours per night.
THE EFFECT OF CAFFEINE DEPENDENCE TO SLEEPING PATTERN OF SHS STUDENTS

By taking caffeine, this sleep-wake pattern is disturbed because it hinders the production of
melatonin. And our main idea of why we take caffeine, for most teenagers, is to stay up late. Caffeine can
have an effect even if you imbibe it earlier in the afternoon or evening. One study found that consuming
caffeine 6 hours before bedtime reduced overall sleep time by 1 hour. These effects may also be more
potent in older adults. It takes more time for their bodies to handle caffeine. (Heffron, 2013)
The primary objective of this research is to fully comprehend the impacts of caffeine dependence
on the sleep pattern of SHS students. What is the effect on their sleep and what will eventuate to their
health if they have caffeine resistance.