When people think of caffeine, they think of coffee. However, caffeine has other uses other than just coffee. In fact,
caffeine has several different medicinal uses.
The most common medicinal use of caffeine is as a part of headache preparations and other pain relievers. Caffeine is
added both for its specific ability to relieve headache, including that caused by caffeine withdrawal, and for its ability
to help analgesics do their work better.
The ability of caffeine to stimulate breathing is used in the treatment of apnea (cessation of breathing) in newborn babies,
and as an antidote against the depression of breathing by overdoses of heroin and other opiate drugs.
More controversial therapeutic uses of caffeine are these: to kill skin funguses; to improve sperm mobility; to enhance
the toxic effects of chemicals used in cancer therapy; and to facilitate the production of seizures during electroconvulsive
therapy.
