US Pharm. 2014;39(2):14.
Beijing, China—According to a recent meta-analysis, habitually consuming caffeine in coffee and other drinks may protect against atrial fibrillation. Researchers at the Fu Wai Hospital in Beijing, China, analyzed six prospective cohort studies with a total of 228,465 patients and found that the risk of atrial fibrillation was lower with consumption of both low (<500 mg/day) and high (≥500 mg/day) doses of caffeine. In a dose-response analysis, the risk of incident atrial fibrillation was lower by a relative 6% for each increase in habitual caffeine intake of 300 mg/day. Although a causal relationship has not yet been established, it is speculated that caffeine’s cardioprotective effects may be due to its antifibrotic properties. Results have been published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.
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