A recent research presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress by study author Dr. Lucio Mos, a cardiologist at Hospital of San Daniele del Friuli in Udine, Italy, investigated the impact of coffee consumption on participants with untreated cases of mild hypertension. The results suggest drinking the beverage could increase the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks in young population.

The researchers investigated the coffee consumption habits of 1,201 non-diabetic patients aged 18-45 years participating in the prospective HARVEST2 study. Each participant had stage 1 hypertension (systolic blood pressure of 140-159 mm/Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure of 90-99 mm/Hg) but were not receiving treatment for it. Among the participants of the study, 26.3% did not drink coffee, 62.7% were moderate coffee drinkers and 10% were heavy coffee drinkers. Type 2 diabetes is frequently known to develop in patients with hypertension at a later stage, and so the researchers investigated how coffee drinking influenced the risk of developing pre-diabetes over time, following the participants for 12.5 years.

How quickly the participants metabolized caffeine - determined by the CYP1A2 genotype - influenced this risk. Only in heavy coffee drinkers who metabolized caffeine slowly did the risk of pre-diabetes increase significantly. "Slow caffeine metabolizers have longer exposure to the detrimental effects of caffeine on glucose metabolism," Dr. Mos explains. "The risk is even greater if they are overweight or obese, and if they are heavy coffee drinkers. Thus, the effect of coffee on prediabetes depends on the amount of daily coffee intake and genetic background." During the study's follow-up period, a total of 60 cardiovascular events were observed, with the majority of these (80%) being heart attacks.

Dr. Mos concludes that the study shows coffee use is linearly associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events in young adults with mild hypertension: "This relationship seems to be at least partially mediated by the long-term effect of coffee on blood pressure and glucose metabolism. These patients should be aware that coffee consumption may increase their risk of developing more severe hypertension and diabetes in later life and should keep consumption to a minimum."

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