I know I've mentioned it several times before, but there have been an astonishing amount of studies conducted on the potential benefits vs. the alleged detriments of caffeine. I'm not exactly sure which number the following study is (maybe 14,289 ... who knows), but it struck me as a bit interesting.

Researchers from the University of Georgia claim that caffeine may help reduce pain. 16 study volunteers were asked to consume caffeine or a placebo one hour before peddling on a stationary bike for 30 minutes. The exercise was purposely designed to make the volunteer's muscles ache, presumably with a high resistance setting on the bike. After the 30 minutes was up, volunteers who consumed caffeine before the exercise reported less thigh muscle pain than those who received the placebo.

So does this mean you should down a few Red Bulls before heading off to the gym? I'm not sure, really. Especially when you take into account another study (we'll call this one study number 7,453) showing that high amounts of caffeine can restrict blood flow to the heart during exercise by up to 39 percent.

As always, the verdict is still out on caffeine. What are your thoughts on caffeine? Is it healthy or not?

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A very unfortunate effect of stroke is brain damage. Whereas strokes occurring in certain parts of the brain may lead to motor neglect, strokes that occur in other portions can sometimes result in a loss of cognitive function. In efforts to reduce a patient's chances of post-stroke brain damage, researchers from the University of Georgia not that long ago put forth interesting information regarding the use of blood pressure medication for this very purpose.

If given within twenty-four hours of the stroke, researchers say, common blood pressure medication may help reduce brain damage in patients. Studying the results of rats who had induced strokes and were subsequently treated with blood pressure lowering medication, the researchers found a significant reduction in the amount of brain damage when compared against stroke induced rats who were not given blood pressure medication.

This study came off the heels of a separate study on the efficacy of using blood pressure meds to reduce the severity of brain damage in stroke victims, one that was also conducted by at the University of Georgia. Researchers are hopeful that this information will be used to revolutionize emergency stroke care.

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