One Cup of Coffee Could Cause Heart Attack

A single cup of coffee can trigger a heart attack within an hour in some people. Those most in danger are occasional coffee drinkers and those with risk factors for coronary artery disease.

Researchers at Brown University and Harvard School of Public Health studied over 500 cases of non-fatal heart attacks. They found that by drinking a cup of coffee, light or occasional coffee drinkers increased their risk of heart attack within an hour by an astonishing 400 percent. Moderate coffee drinkers increased their risk of heart attack by 60 percent, while heavy coffee drinkers showed little increase.

Researchers theorize that the caffeine in coffee causes an increase in blood pressure, especially in those not used to the effects of caffeine. That, along with an increase in the sympathetic nervous system, could trigger a heart attack by causing vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques to break off. The study is unique because it studied the immediate, instead of long-term, effects of coffee on health.

“People at high risk for a heart attack who are occasional or regular coffee drinkers might consider quitting coffee altogether,” said researcher Ana Baylin of Brown University. Just a single cup of coffee in vulnerable individuals, might be “the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Health Alert from NewsMax.com