Relax! Coffee won't give your heart extra beats

New York: You have another reason to drink that cup of coffee. Researchers including an Indian-origin medical student now report that regular caffeine consumption does not lead to extra heartbeats, which may lead - in rare cases - to heart- or stroke-elated morbidity and mortality.

The study, led by researchers at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF), measured the chronic consumption of caffeinated products over a 12-month period. "Clinical recommendations advising against the regular consumption of caffeinated products should be reconsidered as we may unnecessarily be discouraging consumption of items like chocolate, coffee and tea that might actually have cardiovascular benefits," said senior author Gregory Marcus, health cardiologist and director of clinical research.

"Given our recent work demonstrating that extra heartbeats can be dangerous, this finding is especially relevant," he added. Excessive premature atrial contractions (PACs) have been shown to result in atrial fibrillation, stroke and death, while excessive premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) have been shown to result in increased heart failure, coronary artery disease and death.

Both abnormalities have been tied to caffeine consumption through studies and trials but these studies were performed several decades ago and did not use PACs and PVCs as a primary outcome. Recent growing evidence indicates the potential cardiovascular benefits of several common caffeinated products such as coffee, chocolate and tea.