Coffee and caffeinated drinks are amongst the most well-liked beverages on this planet. About seven of each eight people within the US ingest caffeine each day, at 135 mg/day.
The very best concentration of caffeine is in coffee, nonetheless, amongst commonly consumed drinks, which has turn into a research focus amongst scientists taking a look at how coffee consumption impacts the rates of several diseases.
A latest study published in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases explores how coffee consumption affects the incidence of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC), comparing adults with hypertension, diabetes, and heart problems (CVD) and people without.
Study: Coffee consumption and abdominal aortic calcification amongst adults with and without hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Image Credit: NOBUHIROASADA/Shutterstock.com
Introduction
Moderate coffee consumption is related to a lower risk of several diseases, called metabolic syndrome, Parkinson’s Disease (PD), type 2 diabetes, and a few cancers. Notably, a single cup of coffee each day was related to decreased mortality risk.
Conversely, the acute rise in blood pressure following coffee consumption may underlie the association of high coffee consumption with CVD risk in those with severe hypertension.
Coffee also induces insulin insensitivity, and increased consumption may raise the chance of mortality from any cause, in addition to from CVD, particularly amongst CVD patients.
This data indicates differential advantages from coffee, depending on the prior presence of hypertension, hyperglycemia, and CVD.
Calcification of the coronary arteries is linked to lower coffee consumption. In the present study, abdominal arterial calcification was used as an early marker of atherosclerosis, preceding the actual development of clinical disease.
The aim was to see if coffee modified the AAC profile in these two groups of adults.
The investigators used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013–2014, including over 2,500 participants. They assessed AAC severity using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).
Three groups were categorized: no, high and low total coffee intake, the cut-off being 390 g/day or more. The identical categories were formed for caffeinated coffee drinkers as well. Decaffeinated coffee drinkers were few, so only two groups were formed on this respect, namely, those that drank decaf coffee and others.
AAC was scored by the Kauppila system based on a visible assessment of the severity of calcification within the aortic wall in each of eight segments, 4 posterior and 4 anterior, obtained by lateral spine DXA imaging. The scores are finally added up. A rating >6 is taken into account indicative of severe AAC.
Smoking, dietary patterns, kidney disease, plasma lipids, and other metabolites of value were considered while analyzing the chance aspects to mitigate possible confounding effects.
What did the study show?
Most coffee drinkers were older, White, and current smokers, but fewer were diabetic. Additionally they had higher mean vitamin D levels and incomes but lower kidney function and poorer food regimen quality.
No significant associations were observed between coffee consumption and AAC scores overall. Nonetheless, within the presence of any of those risk aspects – hypertension, diabetes, and CVD – individuals with a mean coffee consumption of 390 g/d or more (high consumption) had higher AAC scores.
Within the hypertensive group, the AAC rating was 0.72 higher, with high consumption vs. none. This difference was not seen in non-hypertensive patients.
For diabetes, the difference was 1.2 units, while with CVD, the AAC scores were two units higher with high coffee consumption. This was not observable in adults without these diseases.
These associations were mirrored when decaf and caffeinated coffee drinkers were compared. Those that drank decaffeinated coffee weren’t in danger for higher AAC scores. Still, caffeinated coffee drinkers showed an increased risk, provided they’d any of the three risk aspects listed above.
Severe AAC risk was increased by 50% in those with high consumption. The chance was increased to 70% when hypertension was present as well. The percentages for severe AAC were increased with diabetes or CVD along with excessive coffee drinking, though the difference from those without these conditions was insignificant.
What are the implications?
This pioneering study shows that…
…patients with hypertension, diabetes, and CVD should deal with coffee consumption, especially caffeinated coffee, to cut back the burden of AAC.”
Coffee produces an acute rise in blood pressure, reduced endothelial function, poorer responses to glucose absorption, increased sympathetic arousal, and disrupted sleep patterns. It could potentially worsen cholesterol metabolism.
These are typically counteracted by the advantages of caffeine on the metabolism but could lead on to harmful effects within the presence of AAC risk aspects in certain subgroups. That is corroborated by some studies showing a risk of death from CVD in hypertensive individuals or those with CVD who drank excessive coffee.
Coffee drinking also increases the chances of sudden cardiac death amongst those with coronary artery disease. These findings are inconclusive, nonetheless, since other research shows contradictory results.
Further study will likely be required to look at whether these differences are attributable to variations within the sort of coffee, ethnicity, or duration of follow-up.
Overall, it is important to notice that earlier findings demonstrating a profit from coffee consumption on coronary artery calcification can’t be extrapolated to other arteries, particularly the abdominal aorta.