Numbers and Proves

The latest study of coffee consumption did not find any evidence that coffee consumption, at any volume, increases the risk of coronary heart disease. In fact, the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study had the lowest risk. This certainly challenges studies that many senior citizens have read about for years, saying the stimulant in caffeine is bad for your heart. It still has not stopped many seniors from drinking coffee - research in 2004 said seniors would not give up coffee for sex.

Coffee is a major source of caffeine, which is the most widely consumed stimulant in the world and has been implicated in the development of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack in previous studies.

The new study, published online at the Journal of Circulation, was massive in scope - it looked at 44 005 men and 84 488 women without history of cardiovascular disease or cancer. The study of women was over 20 years and for men over 14 years.

In the study, men and women were categorized by the amount of coffee they consumed. Amazingly, the study found the heaviest coffee drinkers, who drank six or more cups of coffee on a daily basis for up to two decades, actually had a slightly lower risk of developing coronary artery disease than those who drank a cup or less each day.

The authors documented 2173 incident cases of coronary heart disease (1449 nonfatal myocardial infarctions and 724 fatal cases of CHD) among men and 2254 cases (1561 nonfatal myocardial infarctions and 693 fatal cases of CHD) among women.

Among men, after adjustment for age, smoking, and other CHD risk factors, the relative risks of CHD across categories of cumulative coffee consumption were:

● less than 1 cup per mo = 1.0,

● 1 cup per mo to 4 cups per wk = 1.04 (95% confidence interval 0.91 to 1.17),

● 5 to 7 cups per wk = 1.02 (0.91 to 1.15),

● 2 to 3 cups per day = 0.97 (0.86 to 1.11),

● 4 to 5 cups per day = 1.07 (0.88 to 1.31), and

● 6 or more cups per day) = 0.72 (0.49 to 1.07).

Among women, the relative risks were:

● less than 1 cup per mo = 1.0,

● 1 cup per mo to 4 cups per wk = 0.97 (0.83 to 1.14),

● 5 to 7 cups per wk = 1.02 (0.90 to 1.17),

● 2 to 3 cups per day = 0.84 (0.74 to 0.97),

● 4 to 5 cups per day = 0.99 (0.83 to 1.17), and

● 6 or more cups per day) = 0.87 (0.68 to 1.11)

Stratification by smoking status, alcohol consumption, history of type 2 diabetes mellitus, and body mass index gave similar results.

The researchers were led by Dr. Esther Lopez-Garcia of the School of Medicine at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain.

For all levels of coffee consumption reported, the results of the team's analysis, after adjusting for age, smoking, and other coronary heart disease risk factors, showed no significant difference in the relative risks of developing coronary heart disease.

Habits associated with people who are heavy coffee drinkers include smoking, alcohol consumption, and the use of aspirin were also examined. The smoking connection was found to be strong and some say may explain why another study found a link between coffee drinking and the risk of developing coronary heart disease.

People who consumed large amounts of coffee were found to drink less tea, were less likely to use multivitamins or vitamin E, and shunned exercise.

The researchers pointed out that individual "genotypes" might not follow the general pattern suggested by the study and could actually exhibit an increased risk of developing coronary heart disease.

The findings were limited to standard percolator or drip coffee and not to unfiltered methods of brewing that produce much stronger coffee. That type of "French press" coffee has been consistently linked to an increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol.

As in the conclusion of almost all research, the authors say further study is needed.