Researchers found no link between moderate coffee consumption and increased risk of arrhythmia

In fact, researchers report that for hundreds of thousands of people who drink an extra cup of coffee a day, they reduce the risk of arrhythmia, including atrial fibrillation, ventricular premature beats, or other common heart diseases, by 3%

The paper was published in the Journal of Internal Medicine of the American Medical Association on July 19, 2021

"For most people, coffee is the main source of caffeine, and it is known for causing or exacerbating arrhythmias," said Gregory Marcus, MD, senior corresponding author and professor of medicine in the Department of Cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco.

"But we did not find any evidence that caffeine intake will lead to a greater risk of arrhythmia," said Marcus, an arrhythmia therapist

Although some professional associations recommend avoiding the use of caffeinated products to reduce the risk of arrhythmia, this link has not been consistently proven-indeed, coffee may have anti-inflammatory benefits and is associated with lowering the risk of some diseases, including Cancer, diabetes and Parkinson's disease

In this new study, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco explored whether habitual coffee intake is related to the risk of arrhythmia, and whether genetic variants that affect caffeine metabolism change this connection

About 386,258 coffee drinkers participated in the coffee study.

In addition to a routine analysis, the researchers also used a technique called "Mendelian randomization" to use genetic data to infer causality

The average follow-up was 4 years, and the data were adjusted according to demographic characteristics, health and living habits

Eventually, about 4% of the samples developed arrhythmia

The author pointed out the limitations of the study, including the nature of self-reports and the inability to obtain detailed information about the type of coffee, such as espresso or non-espresso

Marcus said: "Only randomized clinical trials can clearly prove the effect of drinking coffee or caffeine

Co-authors are Eun-jeong Kim, MD; Thomas J.

Journal Reference :

1. Eun-jeong Kim, Thomas J.