{"id":371315,"date":"2025-11-11T10:26:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T10:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371315\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T10:26:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T10:26:22","slug":"coffee-study-challenges-advice-on-common-heart-condition-sciencealert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/371315\/","title":{"rendered":"Coffee Study Challenges Advice on Common Heart Condition : ScienceAlert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coffee<\/a> is associated with increased alertness<\/a> and faster heart rates, so people with atrial fibrillation<\/a> \u2013 the most common irregular heartbeat condition \u2013 are often told to avoid it. A new study suggests that advice may need a rethink.<\/p>\n

Researchers followed 200 people in the US, Canada, and Australia who were about to undergo electrical cardioversion<\/a> for atrial fibrillation (AF). All were current or former coffee drinkers. Half agreed to avoid coffee for six months; the other half agreed to drink at least one cup per day.<\/p>\n

Across the six months, the researchers tracked AF recurrences lasting more than 30 seconds. In the coffee-drinker<\/a> group, 47 percent had an episode of AF, compared with 64 percent of abstainers. That equates to a 39 percent lower risk for coffee drinkers.<\/p>\n

Related: <\/strong>Caffeine Pouches Can Pack 2 Coffees in 1 Hit. Here’s Why They’re a Risk.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“The results were astounding,” says<\/a> cardiologist Christopher Wong, from the University of Adelaide in Australia.<\/p>\n

“In contrast to conventional wisdom, we found the coffee drinkers experienced a significant reduction in AF compared to those who avoided coffee and caffeine<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

\"YouTube frameborder=”0\u2033 allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen><\/p>\n

Previous research has been inconclusive on whether caffeine does<\/a> or doesn’t<\/a> trigger AF episodes, but this is the first randomized clinical trial<\/a> to look at the association.<\/p>\n

The researchers now want to look at the effects on those who weren’t coffee drinkers to begin with, and how other caffeine drinks<\/a> might have an impact.<\/p>\n

A number of explanations for these latest findings are possible. We know that coffee can boost exercise performance<\/a>, which could protect against AF episodes (the study didn’t collect detailed diet\/exercise data).<\/p>\n

\"AtrialCases of atrial fibrillation were less common in coffee drinkers. (Wong et al., JAMA, 2025)<\/p>\n

Coffee also acts as a diuretic (making us pee more), as well as containing anti-inflammatory compounds<\/a>. These characteristics can also help reduce high blood pressure, a risk factor for AF.<\/p>\n

It may simply be the case that drinking coffee means people aren’t sipping on unhealthy beverages<\/a> instead, according to the researchers, although these possibilities weren’t directly explored.<\/p>\n

\"Win<\/a><\/p>\n

AF affects tens of millions<\/a> of people worldwide. It can lead to strokes and heart failure, and is linked to risk factors including obesity, diabetes<\/a>, and excessive alcohol consumption<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The number of people with AF is rising and the risk of developing the condition increases with age,” says<\/a> cardiologist and electrophysiologist Gregory Marcus, from the University of California, San Francisco.<\/p>\n

“As a result, there’s certainly a lot of interest in ways to reduce the burden of the condition.”<\/p>\n

While it doesn’t show direct cause and effect, the study adds some valuable clarity to the links between coffee and heart conditions.<\/p>\n

\"CoffeeThe recurrence rate was 39 percent less in those who consumed coffee. (Wong et al., JAMA, 2025)<\/p>\n

“It is reasonable for health care professionals to let their AF patients consider experimenting with naturally caffeinated substances that they may enjoy, such as caffeinated tea and coffee,” says<\/a> Marcus.<\/p>\n

“However, some people may still find that caffeine or caffeinated coffee triggers or worsens their AF.”<\/p>\n

The research has been published in JAMA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coffee is associated with increased alertness and faster heart rates, so people with atrial fibrillation \u2013 the most…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":371316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[210,352,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-371315","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-msft-content","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115530590684546381","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}