"Coffee is good for the heart" as a new study in Sweden reports that drinking coffee was not associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat, in both sexes.
Susanna Larsson, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and lead author on the study, said in a statement that they found no evidence of atrial fibrilliation with high consumption of coffee, "This is largest prospective study to date on the association between coffee consumption and risk of atrial fibrillation. We find no evidence that high consumption of coffee increases the risk of atrial fibrillation."
She added that the findings is important so that coffee drinkers will continue drinking their favorite dose without worrying too much of their health. However, she said that it should be still taken in moderation:"This is important because it shows that people who like coffee can safely continue to consume it, at least in moderation, without the risk of developing this condition," Larson explains.
As Live Science reported, the researchers were able to analyze data from 42,000 men and 35,000 women who have been long participating in the study, the Cohort of Swedish Men and the Swedish Mammography Cohort.
"In 1997, all the participants filled out questionnaires that asked about their health and diet, including how many cups of coffee they drank daily or weekly. During the 12-year follow-up period, the researchers used the Swedish Hospital Discharge Register to determine which patients developed atrial fibrillation."
The said study comes shortly after they release their previous findings earlier this year suggesting that coffee may lower the risk of heart attacks.
The researchers found no link between coffee consumption and an increased risk of atrial fibrillation, what they found out however is that a slight increase in risk when they limited the analysis to men. Although, this increase was not statistically significant (meaning it could have been due to chance), the researchers noted.
"Whether men may be more sensitive to a high coffee or caffeine intake warrants further study," the researchers said in their article, published in the journal BioMed Central.
The researchers gave caution that that high consumption of coffee might have an increase risk for other types of irregular heartbeats.
