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Text sizeHelsinki, Finland - Drinking coffee does not increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) or death, according to an article by Finnish researchers published in the December 11/25, 2000 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.1
Päivi Kleemola, MSc (University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland) and colleagues studied the relationship between coffee drinking and CHD and death from all causes. Finland has one of the world's highest rates of coffee consumption per capita and a high rate of CHD, the researchers note. Earlier studies had found that drinking unfiltered coffee increased serum cholesterol levels. The researchers used data from 20179 randomly selected Finnish men and women aged 30 to 59 years at baseline, who participated in a cross-sectional risk factor survey given in 1972, 1977, or 1982. Habitual coffee drinking, health behaviors, major known CHD risk factors, and medical history were assessed at baseline and the subjects were followed-up for 10 years after the survey.
Multivariate adjusted risk ratios (RRs) and 95% CI of nonfatal MI, CHD mortality, and total mortality by coffee consumption in men (30-59 years)|
Coffee consumption* |
Number of men |
Nonfatal MI [RR] (95% CI)** |
CHD mortality [RR] (95% CI)** |
Total mortality [RR] (95% CI)** |
|
<1 | 545 | 43 [1.09] (0.78-1.54) | 28 [1.88] (1.20-2.95) | 73 [1.58] (1.20-2.07) |
|
1-3? | 1712 | 137 [1.00] | 61 [1.00] | 172 [1.00] |
|
4-7 | 5280 | 497 [0.95] (0.79-1.15) | 278 [1.23] (0.93-1.62) | 289 [0.97] (0.82-1.14) |
|
>7 | 2538 | 214 [0.79] (0.64-0.98) | 509 [1.22] (0.90-1.65) | 335 [1.01] (0.84-1.22) |
|
Coffee consumption* |
Number of women |
Nonfatal MI [RR] (95% CI)** |
CHD mortality [RR] (95% CI)** |
Total mortality [RR] (95% CI)** |
|
<1 | 369 | 18 [1.72] (1.01-2.92) | 0 [0.00] (0.00-0.00) | 19 [1.12] (0.69-1.83) |
|
1-3? | 1786 | 56 [1.00] | 23 [1.00] | 87 [1.00] |
|
4-7 | 6732 | 196 [0.84] (0.62-1.13) | 64 [0.67] (0.41-1.07) | 289 [0.79] (0.63-1.01) |
|
>7 | 1500 | 49 [0.93] (0.63-1.36) | 12 [0.57] (0.28-1.16) | 49 [0.62] (0.44-0.87) |
"The highest CHD mortality was found among those who did not drink coffee at all (multivariate adjusted)," Kleemola et al write: "In men, the risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction was not associated with coffee drinking.... In women, all-cause mortality decreased by increasing coffee drinking."
Drink up; just lay off the cigarettes and watch your cholesterol
In order to account for the high mortality and CHD risk among non-coffee drinkers, the authors speculated that people with underlying disease might have stopped drinking coffee for health reasons, and that these people had other risk factors: "The prevalence of smoking and the mean level of serum cholesterol increased with increasing coffee drinking. Non-coffee drinkers more often reported a history of various diseases and symptoms, and they also more frequently used several drugs compared with coffee drinkers."
"Coffee drinking does not increase the risk of CHD or death," the authors concluded. "In men, slightly increased mortality from CHD and all causes in heavy coffee drinkers is largely explained by the effects of smoking and a high serum cholesterol level," they added.
