Study: People with heart problems don't need to abstain from coffee

Coffee drinkers sometimes report palpitations, but new research from the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. says coffee drinkers may actually be less likely to be hospitalized for heart rhythm disturbances.

Ingesting very large doses of caffeine, coffee's most active ingredient, has been shown to create rhythm disturbances. But Kaiser researchers followed 130,054 men and women and found that those who drank four or more cups of coffee each day had an 18 percent lower risk of hospitalization for heart rhythm disturbances. The study does not prove cause and effect. People who drink four or more cups of coffee may have other protective traits. Or, they could have heart problems for which they're not hospitalized.

Dr. Arthur Klatsky says his work isn't suggesting that people drink coffee to prevent rhythm problems, but it does support the idea that people who are at risk for rhythm problems, or who have rhythm problems, do not necessarily need to abstain from coffee.

The story from WedMD.

The news release from Kaiser.

The synopsis from the 50th annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.