1. Home>
2. Specialties>
3. General Medicine>
4. Summary and Comment

COFFEE AND HEART DISEASE IN WOMEN: NO ASSOCIATION.

Conflicting results on the association of coffee consumption and heart disease have been published before, but no investigation has been as large as this ten-year follow-up study of 85,747 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study. When this study began in 1980, the women were free of coronary heart disease, stroke, or cancer and ranged in age from 34 to 59. They completed questionnaires every two years regarding their medical history, lifestyle, and caffeine intake.

By 1990, 712 women had developed coronary heart disease (CHD). Researchers found only a modest increase in risk of CHD among women who drank six or more cups of coffee per day compared with those who drank none. This apparent association disappeared, however, when the analyses were adjusted for cigarette smoking. (Data collected in 1984 on decaffeinated coffee showed that it was not associated with an increased risk of CHD.)

Comment: This study provides reassurance to coffee drinkers, and suggests that the association between coffee consumption and coronary disease found in other studies may have been due to greater cigarette use among heavy coffee drinkers.

— TH Lee

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine March 15, 1996

Citation(s):

Willett WC et al. Coffee consumption and coronary heart disease in women: a ten-year follow-up. JAMA 1996 Feb 14 275 458-462.

• Medline abstract (Free)