Study Dispels Link Between Caffeine And Heart Palpitations

SAN FRANCISCO -- Regular caffeine consumption may not cause dangerous racing of the heart, a new study finds. The study was published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association.

In rare cases, extra heartbeats can lead to heart problems and stroke, according to the study's authors. They say their findings challenge current medical thinking, but also emphasized that the health risks of heavy caffeine consumption require additional research.

"Clinical recommendations advising against the regular consumption of caffeinated products to prevent disturbances of the heart's cardiac rhythm should be reconsidered, as we may unnecessarily be discouraging consumption of items like chocolate, coffee and tea that might actually have cardiovascular benefits," said study senior author Dr. Gregory Marcus, director of clinical research in the division of cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco. "Given our recent work demonstrating that extra heartbeats can be dangerous, this finding is especially relevant."

The 12-month study assessed the coffee, tea and chocolate consumption of nearly 1,400 healthy people. Each participant also wore a portable device that continuously monitored his or her heart rhythm for 24 hours.

The study found that 61% of participants consumed more than one of the caffeinated products a day and that those who consumed higher amounts of the products didn't have extra heartbeats.

This was reportedly the first community-based sample to look at the impact of caffeine on extra heartbeats, as previous studies looked at people with known heart rhythm disorders.