Coffee improves cognition in people with atrial fibrillation
Drinking up to or more than five cups of coffee per day helps prevent the cognitive decline associated with atrial fibrillation.
Cognitive age was calculated to be 6.7 years younger among those who drank the most coffee compared to those who drank the least (not popular coffee-based drinks with added sugar).
Previous research has shown that coffee can be well tolerated, even helpful, for afib (see Coffee helps atrial fibrillation with high blood pressure) and abstaining from coffee does not benefit*. Since afib can be a cause of cognitive impairment, the authors of a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association determined to see if coffee could benefit cognition in afib.
“Atrial fibrillation is an independent risk factor for the development of cognitive impairments. Regular coffee consumption has shown cognitive benefits in healthy individuals. Whether regular consumption reduces cognitive decline in vulnerable patients is controversial. We investigated the association in elderly people with atrial fibrillation.”
The lead author was quoted in Technology Networks Applied Sciences:
““The most frequent cardiac arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation, is known to independently increase the risk of dementia,” said Massimo Barbagallo, M.D., lead author of the study and 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 AFib.”
The investigators combined an array of neurocognitive tests to construct an overall cognitive performance indicator. Consumption of less than one cup per day was the reference group, while the highest intake group was more than five cups per day. More coffee was clearly best.
“The <1 cup/day consumers (reference group) reached a cognitive construct score of −0.24, and the group with the highest consumption (>5 cups/day) was at −0.10. Montreal Cognitive Assessment score in the reference group was 24.58 ; the group with the highest intake achieved 25.25.”
Coffee also reduced inflammation
The authors included two key biomarkers of inflammation in their assessment, hs‐CRP (high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein) and IL‐6 (interleukin‐6). Both showed improvement with higher coffee consumption.
Inflammatory markers decreased with higher coffee consumption (hs‐CRP with 5 compared with <1 cup/day by factor 0.78, IL‐6 significantly by factor 0.73.
It makes sense that reducing inflammation and cognitive impairment would occur together.
The authors conclude:
“Coffee consumption in patients with atrial fibrillation may be associated with improved cognitive performance and reduced inflammatory markers. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to consider implementation in dietary counseling for atrial fibrillation management.”
* “Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder in adults, affecting more than 5 million people in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association. The 2023 ACC/AHA/ACCP/HRS Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Atrial Fibrillation noted that abstaining from caffeine to prevent heart rhythm disturbances is of no benefit to people with AFib,” also noted in Technology Networks Applied Sciences.
