Caffeine offers seniors protection against heart disease

According to researchers in the United States seniors who are regular drinkers of caffeinated beverages have a lower risk of coronary vascular disease and heart attacks.

The researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Brooklyn College say caffeine provides protection against heart disease mortality in the elderly.

Using data from the first federal National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic follow-up study, the researchers found that survey participants 65 or older with a higher intake of caffeinated beverages showed a lower relative risk of coronary vascular disease and heart mortality than did participants with lower caffeinated beverage intake.

Dr. John Kassotis, an associate professor of medicine at SUNY Downstate, says the protection against death from heart disease in the elderly afforded by caffeine is probably due to caffeine's enhancement of blood pressure, and the higher the caffeine intake the stronger the protection.

The protective effect was found only in participants who were not severely hypertensive and no significant protective effect was found in patients below the age of 65.

The research also revealed that no protective effect was found against cerebrovascular disease mortality, death from stroke, regardless of age.

The research is published by The American Journal of Nutrition in its February 2007 issue.