Does drinking coffee cause heart palpitations?

Start a new day with the aroma of coffee in the morning, and have another cup of refreshing in the afternoon, which is a daily life for coffee lovers and a "just need" for some busy people

Will coffee affect heart health? In response to this common problem, there is currently a lack of clear and consistent medical evidence, and most of the evidence comes from observational studies.

Recently, at the American Heart Association (AHA) annual scientific meeting, the results of a clinical trial on coffee and arrhythmia were published in the form of "Late Breaking Science" (Late Breaking Science, LBS), which brought us "mixed good and bad news".

Based on the objective data of ECG monitoring, this study showed that the risk of atrial arrhythmia did not increase overall after drinking coffee, but the risk of premature ventricular contractions increased slightly

Ventricular premature beats: Extra heart beats that originate in the ventricles and are caused by abnormal electrical excitement before the start of a normal heart beat

Single ventricular premature beats have little effect on the pumping function of the heart and will not cause obvious symptoms unless the attacks are extremely frequent

This randomized trial is called coffee and real-time abnormal atrial and ventricular pulsation (CRAVE), which aims to assess the real-time physiological response after drinking coffee and is led by scholars from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

The trial was carried out in 100 adults, the average age of volunteers was 38 (±13) years, and 51% were women

The researchers collected the volunteers’ actual coffee drinking through text messages, daily reminders, and mobile apps.

Drinking coffee is related to premature ventricular beats

The results showed that, overall, the people assigned to the coffee drinking group had a 54% increased risk of ventricular premature contractions, walked 1,058 more steps a day, and reduced their sleep time by 36 minutes each night

Further analysis of the actual coffee drinking situation, people who drink 2 cups or more of coffee a day, the risk of ventricular premature contractions doubled (increased by 102%)

However, the risk of premature ventricular contractions mentioned above is not caused by more walking or sleep changes

According to genotyping, further analysis found that people who are genetically influenced to metabolize caffeine faster have a relatively higher risk of ventricular premature beats

Other arrhythmia and blood sugar are not affected

During the trial, the risk of atrial arrhythmia among volunteers in the coffee drinking group did not increase overall, including premature atrial beats and supraventricular tachycardia

Compared with not drinking coffee, every cup of coffee is also associated with a 12% reduction in the risk of supraventricular tachycardia

Dr.

In addition, the study did not observe a significant association between drinking coffee and blood sugar levels
.

So, can coffee be drunk?

"In general, the immediate physiological effects of coffee are complex
.
" Research team members, Dr.
Gregory Marcus, a UCSF arrhythmia expert, and Dr.
Kalyanam Shivkumar, director of the UCSF Arrhythmia Center, suggested:

People who suffer from supraventricular tachycardia or atrial fibrillation, or those who are at risk, do not necessarily need to avoid coffee
.

For those who suffer from ventricular arrhythmia, you can try to drink as little coffee as possible
.

In discussions at the AHA conference, Boston University (Boston University) Dr.
Elaine Hylek said that despite the small sample size, the results of the study were "somewhat reassuring
.
" She said, “Drinking coffee does not seem to induce any atrial arrhythmia
.
Regarding premature ventricular beats, we don’t have to worry too much about the normal heart of healthy individuals
.
And people seem to walk more and increase their activity in order to buy coffee.
Hope this will translate into better cardiovascular health, weight and blood pressure
.
"

Duke University Medical Center (Duke University Medical Center) Dr.
Sana M.
Al-Khatib reminded that this study was carried out in a relatively young, normal weight population without previous arrhythmia, and it cannot be representative of everyone
.
In addition, due to the small scale of the study, it is difficult to observe non-sustained ventricular tachycardia well.
"Future studies continue to verify these results and evaluate more indicators in a longer follow-up period will be crucial
.
"

We look forward to continuing to have high-quality medical research evidence to solve common health problems in life
.
In addition, the overall recommendation based on past evidence can also be used as a reference
.

"Unless coffee is consumed too much, such as drinking more than 5 cups a day, there is a lot of evidence that coffee and caffeine are generally safe
.
" John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute Cardiac Rehabilitation and Preventive Medicine Director Dr.
Chip Lavie commented
.

Previously, a review on coffee and health published in the top medical journal "New England Journal of Medicine" suggested that the daily caffeine intake limit for ordinary adults is 400 mg, and the daily caffeine intake for pregnant or breastfeeding women is recommended to be limited to 200mg
.
For people who are not pregnant or breastfeeding and have no special health problems, drinking caffeine beverages in moderation can become a part of a healthy life>
.

Reference materials:

[1] American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2021.
Presented November 14, 2021.
LBS.
03.
Abstract

[2] Coffee Causes This One Arrhythmia, Trial Shows.
Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https:// CRAVE: No Spike in Atrial Arrhythmias Among Coffee Drinkers.
Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https:// Coffee and Real-time Atrial and Ventricular Ectopy (CRAVE).
Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://clinicaltrials.
gov/ct2/show/NCT03671759

[5] Ventricular premature beats.
Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https:// Atrial premature beats.
Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https:// Rob M.
van Dam, et al.
, (2020).
Coffee, Caffeine, and Health.
N Engl J Med, DOI: 10.
1056/NEJMra1816604