Coffee and Heart Attack Risk

Could your morning cup of coffee be putting you at risk for a heart attack! According to new research, that's the case for some individuals who are genetically susceptible. First of all this doesn't mean that if you drink coffee you're going to suffer a heart attack, and it also doesn't mean that even if you are one of the ones who carry the genes that make you susceptible that one or two cups is going to cause you harm. But mix that gene with one too many cappuccinos, and it could be a set up for a problem.

According to new research in the latest Journal of the American Medical Association, your java could be giving you an extra jolt you didn't expect. The study says that in some people who carry a certain version of a gene--the cyp1a2 gene, to be exact--coffee in excessive amounts could cause a heart attack. This is a topic that's been somewhat controversial. Previous studies have looked at this very risk of coffee consumption.

The most recent one--a study of several studies put together--showed a sixty percent increased risk for heart attack among those who drank more than five cups of coffee a day. But the reliability was questionable--and so there's been no solid evidence yet to show that it can in fact cause a cardiac event.

This study, which looked at more than 2000 people living in Costa Rica who had suffered a non-fatal heart attack, found that four or more cups of coffee--defined as 250 cc's each--was associated with one and a half times the risk of having that heart attack if the person carries a version of the CYP gene that causes people to metabolize, or break down coffee more slowly than others. That's compared to those who drank less than one cup a day.

Dr. Joseph Diamond, Director of Nuclear Cardiology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, says, “The gene that they are looking at is fairly common and it is common in terms of a family of genes that exists to help the liver metabolize chemicals. They found it in about 50% of the people whether they had heart disease or not, that 50% were slow metabolizes and 50% were fast metabolizes.”

Ahhh…but what’s a cup of coffee? “A mug is pretty much almost 1 ½ to 2 cups of coffee in one mug. So I think when you make an assessment for yourself of what you are drinking you have to think in terms of traditional cup and saucer cup of coffee,” Dr. Diamond states.

It's not clear, but it's believed caffeine blocks a type of receptor called the adenosine receptors, which are very potent artery dilators, meaning, they open up the arteries. It may have to do with blood flow, and it may also have a role in inflammation during times when blood flow is decreased. Most of the people drank regular filtered coffee. But if you go and get your Grande or your Vente, or make it an espresso, the amount of caffeine is much greater.

Add to that any other caffeinated beverages one might consume each day, like soda, or red bull, and you can easily take in excess of what four 250 cc cups of coffee contain. Here's the concerning part: 54 percent of those studied carry the gene. What was an interesting finding, among those studied who had a fast metabolizing version of the gene, coffee intake of one to three cups a day was associated with a lower risk of heart attack compared to intakes of less than one cup a day. So, moderate coffee intake has for some a protective effect against heart attack.

“I think that for one thing, that people don’t need to give up coffee all together, based on the findings of this one study. However it may be prudent to try to limit to one or two cups per day,” says Dr. Diamond. So once again, everything in moderation: a credo that often doesn't hurt, and in this case, appears to help.