DRINKING COFFEE & HEART RHYTHM

DRINKING COFFEE & HEART RHYTHM

Drinking normal moderate amounts of coffee does not pose any risk of serious heart rhythm disturbances - and may even protect the heart Dr Arthur Klatsky of Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California, USA, and his team told the American Heart Association's 50th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in San Francisco.

It is known that very large doses of caffeine, found in coffee, can produce heart rhythm disturbances. Dr Klatsky and his team investigated more "normal" caffeine doses. They analysed figures on 130,054 men and women, between 18 and 90 years old, of whom two per cent were hospitalised for heart rhythm disturbances of any type.

Those who reported drinking four or more cups of coffee each day had an 18 per cent lower risk of hospitalisation for heart rhythm disturbances than those drinking no coffee. This reduction in risk applied to men and women, different ethnic groups, and smokers and non-smokers. One to three cups of coffee a day was linked to a seven per cent reduction in risk compared with those drinking no coffee.

The researchers note the findings may be surprising because patients frequently report palpitations after drinking coffee. Backing up this finding is previous research from Denmark which found no effect of coffee intake on risk of atrial fibrillation, the most common type of heart rhythm disturbance.

Anecdotally, many patients (and many doctors) report their personal experience of heart rhythm disturbance associated with coffee drinking.

---

Written by Dr Martin Harris, Doctor and Mohel for Jewish Circumcision Clinic in London Bris Mila Brit Milah.
www.circumcisionlondon.co.uk

---

Contact Dr Martin Harris