Coffee provides a quick morning boost, but it might also protect the brain health of people with a common heart rhythm disorder.
A study published recently in the Journal of the American Heart Association shows patients with atrial fibrillation who drank more than five cups of coffee a day performed better on an array of cognitive tests than those who drank little to no coffee.
In fact, the brains of heavy coffee drinkers were nearly seven years younger in cognitive age compared to coffee teetotalers.
“Many myths are around, but our study found no reason to discourage or forbid a patient with A-Fib from drinking coffee. Instead, say, ‘Enjoy, it may even be good for you!’” senior researcher Dr. Jürg Beer, a professor of medicine and hematology at the University of Zürich in Switzerland, said in an American Heart Association (AHA) news release.
Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder in adults, affecting more than 5 million people in the United States, according to the AHA.
A-Fib occurs when the upper chambers of the heart -- the atria -- begin beating in a quivering and uncoordinated way. This allows blood to pool in the atria and potentially clot.
A-Fib increases a person’s risk of stroke fivefold, as a blood clot can travel from the atria and block blood flow to the brain, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Current American Heart Association guidelines say that abstaining from caffeine doesn’t benefit people with A-Fib, unless patients report that caffeine triggers or worsens their symptoms, researchers noted.
Symptoms can include rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pain.
“It is known that regular coffee consumption benefits cognitive performance among healthy people. The most frequent cardiac arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation, is known to independently increase the risk of dementia,” said lead researcher Dr. Massimo Barbagallo, a resident in the neuro intensive care unit at the University Hospital Zürich.
“Thus, the question is whether coffee might offset the increased risk of cognitive impairment in people with A-Fib,” Barbagallo said.
For the study, researchers recruited more than 2,400 people in Switzerland diagnosed with atrial fibrillation between 2014 and 2017. Participants completed several brain tests and reported how many cups of caffeinated coffee they drank during the last 12 months.
Results showed that the more coffee a person drank, the better they performed on cognitive tests.
“There was a very clear and consistent ‘dose-response’ association between drinking more coffee and doing better on several different sophisticated cognitive tests,” Beer said.
Specifically, their scores were about 11% higher than people who drank little to no coffee, researchers found.
Coffee also appeared to lower inflammation in A-Fib patients. Inflammatory markers were more than 20% lower in people drinking five cups daily than those drinking less than one cup a day.
“Inflammatory markers decreased with higher coffee consumption, an association that remained after considering variables such as age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, physical activity and a history of stroke,” Beer said.
It’s not quite clear why coffee might help brain health, researchers said. It could be due to caffeine or other active ingredients in coffee, like magnesium and niacin, or it might be due to coffee’s anti-inflammatory effects.
However, an outside expert warns that this observational study cannot prove a direct link between heavy coffee drinking and better brain aging, particularly in people with A-Fib.
“Other studies have shown coffee has cognitive-enhancing functions across the board. This, however, is not specific to the A-Fib population. We cannot conclude that coffee prevents long-term cognitive decline,” said Dr. Jose Joglar, a professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
“Coffee does not seem to worsen A-Fib so there is no need to stop drinking it,” Joglar continued. “However, we cannot say starting to drink coffee would prevent A-Fib or prevent long-term cognitive decline.”
Researchers also noted that the study measured brain health and coffee consumption at the same point in time, so it could not track the long-term effect of coffee on brain aging over time.
“To detect a relevant cognitive decline, a follow-up of at least 5 to 10 years is required,” Barbagallo said. “However, the nutritive habits including coffee consumption reported by participants reflect exposure over many years and we likely see here the results of this.”