Studies have shown that drinking coffee is unlikely to increase premature atrial contractions (PACs).
Premature atrial contraction is an irregular heart rhythm caused by premature beats in the upper chambers of the heart, the atria.
When the atria generate electricity earlier than the expected beat, causing the heart to beat. It may not feel disturbing, but it is normal for a healthy heart.
Some people feel like skipping one heartbeat or adding one heartbeat.
A research team led by Professor Gregory Marcus, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, conducted an experiment on 100 healthy coffee drinkers to see how irregular the heart beats when drinking coffee, and found this fact, HealthDay News. ) reported on the 25th.
Most of these people drink regarding one cup of coffee a day.
The research team ate caffeine-free coffee on some days and caffeine-free on other days for two weeks.
They were asked to wear an electrocardiogram patch that records the heart’s electrical activity at all times.
As a result, the number of premature heart contractions was 58 on the day they drank caffeinated coffee, and 53 on the day they did not consume caffeine, almost no difference.
Frequent occurrences of these premature atrial contractions in older adults can lead to atrial fibrillation, a common form of arrhythmia.
Atrial fibrillation is a condition in which the heart rate jumps to over 100 beats per minute as the atria occasionally contract very rapidly, quivering like jellies in a bowl.
When atrial fibrillation occurs in the left atrium, blood can pool and form clots.
This blood clot is carried into the bloodstream through the left ventricle, which pumps blood throughout the body, and travels around, blocking a blood vessel in the brain, leading to a stroke.
However, the number of premature ventricular contractions (PVC) was slightly higher on days when coffee was consumed than on days without caffeine.
The number of premature ventricular contractions was 154 on the day they drank caffeinated coffee and 102 on the day they did not consume caffeine.
Premature ventricular contractions are occasional premature contractions of the lower chambers of the heart, which increase the risk of heart failure if frequent.
Regarding this, Professor David Kao, a cardiologist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said that given that the number of heart beats per day is regarding 100,000, the number of premature ventricular contractions on the day when caffeine was consumed was 0.15% of the total heart rate, compared to 0.1% on the day without caffeine. pointed out that only
In addition, the day when they drank caffeinated coffee had somewhat more physical activity.
On days when coffee was consumed, the average number of steps taken per day was 10,646, and on days without caffeine, it was 9,665 steps.
Steps were measured with a Fitbit smartwatch worn on the wrist.
In addition, the average sleep time per day on days when caffeine was consumed was 397 minutes, 35 minutes shorter than the 432 minutes on days without caffeine.
The overall results suggest that coffee drinkers need to adjust the amount of coffee they choose, according to the research team.
For example, if you have trouble sleeping, limit your coffee to morning coffee, and if you need to be physically active, drink coffee an hour before.
If you’re concerned regarding changes in your heart rate when you drink coffee, the researchers suggested, you need to look at what happens when you abstain from coffee.
The results of this study were published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, an American medical journal.
