Study Disproves Belief That Coffee Can Cause Irregular Heartbeat
Drinking a cup of coffee has always been thought to increase the heartbeat rate. And this is why some health experts are advising people to lessen intake of the world's favorite beverage. However, latest findings reveal that the belief is wrong and asserted that coffee does not cause heart palpitations.
In the new study which was published on Journal of the American Heart Association, it seems that the medical recommendations to refrain from drinking coffee regularly should be reviewed again because experts may just be deterring people from consuming food with caffeine.
"Clinical recommendations advising against the regular consumption of caffeinated products to prevent disturbances of the heart's cardiac rhythm should be reconsidered, as we may unnecessarily be discouraging consumption of items like chocolate, coffee and tea that might actually have cardiovascular benefits," senior author and University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) health cardiologist Dr. Gregory Marcus stated in a press release.
The cardiologist further said that their findings regarding faster heartbeats is especially pertinent to the research regarding the link between coffee and palpitations.
"Given our recent work demonstrating that extra heartbeats can be dangerous, this finding is especially relevant," Dr. Marcus said.
The experts carried out the 12-month study by picking around 1, 388 people with normal heartbeats. They were fitted with a device that will monitor their heart rhythms 24 hours everyday. The participants' frequency of coffee, chocolate and tea intake was observed as well.
At the end of the research, it was found that 61 percent of the participants ingested more than one caffeinated food item daily. There were also individuals who consumed much more but there was no significant difference in the heartbeats, regardless of the amount of caffeine consumption.
In summary of their study, Dr. Marcus said, "We found no evidence of a relationship between chronic caffeine consumption and frequency of these extra beats."
Moreover, on MedPage Today report, some cardiologists from the Atlanta VA Medical Center and Emory University looked into the report on the effects of caffeine intake on the heart. After their review, the experts supported the findings.
Dr. Peter W.F. Wilson, professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at Emory University School of Medicine said, "Recently published studies, including prospective cohorts, clinical investigations, and meta-analyses, generally show coffee consumption is safe for the heart."
Lastly, Director of Electrophysiology services at the Atlanta VA medical center and professor of Medicine at Emory, Dr. Heather Bloom also stated on MedPage, "Concerning cardiovascular risk factors, there is little evidence that chronic coffee intake consumption raises blood pressure."
The whole research was made possible through the funding and support from the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Joseph Drown Foundation and the National Institute on Aging.
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