A novel study from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), in the United States, and the University of Adelaide, in Australia, suggests that drinking a cup of coffee daily can reduce by 39% the risk of recurrence of cardiac arrhythmia, which are irregular and rapid heartbeats.
UCSF electrophysiologist Gregory Marcus says that “caffeine is also a diuretic, which can reduce blood pressure and, therefore, decrease the risk of arrhythmia. Many other ingredients present in coffee also have anti-inflammatory properties that can yield positive results,” he states in a note published by the Science Daily website.
To reach this conclusion, researchers from the two universities conducted clinical tests on 200 patients who presented constant cases of cardiac arrhythmia (atrial fibrillation), a history of the problem, or related conditions.
Electric shock
The patients underwent electrical cardioversion, which is the application of a single electric shock aimed at restoring the normal rhythm of the heartbeats.
After the procedure, part of the patients was randomly selected to drink a cup of caffeinated coffee once a day for six months. The other part was asked to abstain from any caffeinated substances for the same period of time.
At the end of the study, the group that drank coffee had a 39% lower risk of arrhythmia recurrence. One of the study authors, Christopher Wong, from UCSF, explains that the research breaks a paradigm in medicine regarding coffee consumption by people with heart problems.
“Doctors have always recommended that patients with cardiac arrhythmia minimize coffee consumption, but this test suggests that its consumption is safe and may even protect the individual,” he opined.
According to study data, atrial fibrillation occurs most commonly in the population over 60 years old and also in people who are significantly above their ideal weight. In the United States, the problem affects about 10 million adults.
Source: Agência Brasil