Drinking Coffee Helps Lower Risks Of Heart Rhythm Disorders

Illustration of drinking coffee. (Freepic)

JAKARTA - For many people, a cup of coffee in the morning is a routine that cannot be missed. But for people with heart problems such as atrium fibrillation (A-fib), coffee is often considered a taboo because of its caffeine content that can increase heart rate.

Now a new study actually shows the opposite. Drinking caffeinated coffee turned out to be safe to help reduce the risk of relapse of heart rhythm disorders.

Atrium or A-fib fibrillation is a condition when the heartbeat becomes irregular. Patients often feel chest palpitations, shortness of breath, or dizziness.

If left unchecked, this condition could increase the risk of stroke, heart failure, and blood clots. In the United States, more than 10 million people live with A-fib and the number continues to increase with the age of the population.

Reporting from the NBC News page, Dr. Gregory Marcus, a cardiologist and professor at the University of California, San Francisco leads a study called DECAF (Does Eliminating Coffee Avoid Fibrilation?).

According to him, many patients stop drinking coffee just because they are advised by doctors, without strong evidence that caffeine really worsens their condition.

The research was conducted for four years and the results were presented at the annual American Heart Association conference in New Orleans, as well as published in the journal JAMA.

A total of 200 elderly people from Australia, Canada, and the United States participated in this study. Their average age is 70 years and one third are women. The participants were divided into two groups:

- The first group stopped completely consuming caffeine.

- The second group is asked to keep drinking at least one cup of caffeinated coffee every day.

For six months, participants reported their coffee drinking habits through online meetings in the first, third, and sixth months.

The researchers also used electrocardiogram (EKG) footage, heart rate monitoring tools, and implant heart devices to detect whether participants had A-fib recurrence.

The results were quite surprising. About 56% of participants experienced A-fib recurrence during the study. However, only 47% of the coffee warranty group recurred, compared to 64% in coffeeless groups.

In addition, groups of coffee warrants have also experienced recurrence for a longer time than other groups.

Interestingly, about a third of the coffeeless group admitted that they had secretly continued to drink a cup of coffee during the research.

This study adds to the evidence that coffee can reduce the risk of heart problems and other metabolic diseases. Previously, observational research showed the same thing, but the DECAF study became one of the first to show direct causal contact between coffee consumption and a reduced risk of A-fib.

"I am quite surprised by how much protection effect caffeinated coffee has on A-fib," said Dr. Marcus.

Meanwhile, Dr. Maritime Affairs Contreras, a cardiologist from Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital in New York (who was not involved in the study) said the main message from this study was drinking one cup of coffee a day safe for people with A-fib.

"There are no definite rules, because everyone reacts differently to caffeine," he said.

This research does have limitations. The researchers did not examine the effects of caffeinated drinks other than coffee, nor did they compare the diet and sports of participants.

"It could be that coffee warrants are also more active in exercising," said Dr. Marcus.

Even so, the results show that one cup of coffee per day appears to provide a protective effect. However, it is not clear whether drinking more than one cup can provide additional benefits.

"If someone drinks six or seven cups of coffee, plus energy drinks like Red Bull, of course the story is different," said Dr. Contreras while emphasizing the importance of moderate consumption.

Researchers have not been able to confirm why coffee can reduce the risk of A-fib. It could not be because of caffeine, but rather an anti-inflammatory compound in coffee that helps maintain heart rhythm.

However, there is also the possibility that caffeine actually stimulates the body's adrenaline response which helps stabilize the heart rate while relaxing or resting, a condition that often triggers A-fib.