Cancer: No Association Between Coffee and Disease in Norway: 16,000 adults in 11 years of follow-up showed no positive association between coffee and disease although there was a strong negative association between coffee and kidney cancer and non-melanoma cancer of the skin. No association was found with cancers of the pancreas or bladder. For those under 65 at start, there was a negative association with colon cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst ’86;76:823

Cognition: Coffee May Increase Female Cognitive Functioning: Lifetime and current coffee usage was associated with increased cognitive functioning in elderly females (average age 73) but no difference for males. Am J Epid ’02;156:842 

Diabetes: Coffee Protected Against Type 2 Diabetes: In a 12-year prospective study 14,629 Finnish adults ages 35 to 64 without history of stroke, coronary heart disease, or DM at baseline, there were 381 new cases of type 2 DM. After adjustment for confounding factors (age, study year, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, education, occupational, commuting and leisure-time physical activity, alcohol and tea consumption, and smoking), the Hazard Ratios (HRs) of DM associated with the amount of coffee consumed daily (0-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-9, > or =10 cups) were 1.00, 0.72, 0.55, 0.53, and 0.33 (P <.001). Coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus among middle-aged Finnish men and women. Tuomilehto J, Hu G, Bidel S, Lindstrom J, Jousilahti P. Helsinki, Finland. JAMA. 2004 Mar 10;291(10):1213-9

Coffee May Lower Risk of Type-2 Diabetes: In a study of more than 88,000 women, higher coffee consumption, both with and without caffeine, was found to be associated with a lower risk of type-2 diabetes. The reduction in risk was 13% with one cup of coffee per day, and as much as 47% with four or more cups. The reduced risk of type-2 diabetes was limited to filtered coffee and instant coffee whereas consumption of espresso or percolator coffee did not significantly reduce the risk. Harvard. Diabetes Care Feb. 2006. 

Heart: Coffee Beneficial for Moderate Drinking In Large Finnish Study: In a 10 year follow-up of 20,179 randomly selected Finnish adults ages 30 to 59, in men, the risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction was not associated with coffee drinking. The age-adjusted association of coffee drinking was J shaped with coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality and U shaped with all-cause mortality. The highest CHD mortality was found among those who did not drink coffee at all (multivariate adjusted). Also, in women, all-cause mortality decreased by increasing coffee drinking. In men, slightly increased mortality from CHD and all causes in heavy coffee drinkers is largely explained by the effects of smoking and a high serum cholesterol level. Coffee consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease and death. Kleemola P, Jousilahti P, Pietinen P, Vartiainen E, Tuomilehto J. University of Helsinki. Arch Intern Med. 2000;160:3393-3400.

Heart: No Association Between CHD and Death and Inverse Overall: 6,765 healthy men ages 51-59 in 7.1 years of follow-up found no association between coffee and CHD death for smokers and very weak assoc for non-smokers. However, there was an overall inverse association between coffee and death, the more coffee, the less death. Rosengren, U Goteberg, J Intern Med ’91;230:67 

Heart: Largest Prospective Study Finds No Harm From Coffee on Heart: During 10 years of follow-up of 85,747 female nurses ages 34 to 59 without coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, or cancer, 712 developed coronary heart disease. For women drinking six or more cups of caffeine-containing coffee per day in 1980, the relative risk was 0.95 compared with non-coffee drinkers, i.e. 5% less in the heavy drinkers. Coffee consumption and coronary heart disease in women. A ten-year follow-up. Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, Manson JE, Colditz GA, Rosner BA, Speizer FE, Hennekens CH. Boston. JAMA. 1996 Feb 14;275(6):458-62

Heart: Coffee Over 5 Cups Linked to Increased Heart Attacks: In a case-control study of 858 nonfatal heart attacks and 858 community controls, the risk increased with increasing number of cups per day among both drinkers of any type of coffee and drinkers of caffeine-containing coffee only: tests for trend, p = 0.002 and p = 0.0004, respectively. For consumption of caffeine-containing coffee alone, the relative risk estimates for 5-6 cups, 7-9 cups, and 10 or more cups per day relative to less than 1 cup per day were 1.4, 2.1, and 2.5. No increase was observed for fewer than 5 cups per day. The positive association with heavy coffee drinking was present among nonsmokers as well as smokers. Coffee consumption and myocardial infarction in women. Palmer JR, Rosenberg L, Rao RS, Shapiro S. Boston University. Am J Epidemiol. 1995 Apr 15;141(8):724-31. Ed: Case-control studies are inferior to prospective ones.

Heart: Coffee 5 Cups/Day Appear OK in Harvard Meta-Analysis: Eight case-control studies and 15 prospective cohort studies were analyzed. The pooled case-control odds ratio (for the effect of drinking five cups of coffee/day v none) was 1.63. The pooled cohort study relative risk (five cups/day v none) was 1.05. The discrepancy between the pooled case-control and cohort study results could not be attributed to differences in the end points chosen, period of study, or to confounding by smoking status or sex. The cohort study data suggest very little excess risk of coronary heart disease among habitual coffee drinkers. The case-control data do not rule out an increased risk of heart disease among a subgroup of people who acutely increase their coffee intake. Does coffee drinking increase the risk of coronary heart disease? Results from a meta-analysis. Kawachi I, Colditz GA, Stone CB. Harvard. Br Heart J. 1994 Sep;72(3):269-75

Heart: Coffee Better than Tea for Scottish: In a nationwide random population study of over 11,000 men and women aged 40-59 with follow-up of 7.7 years, for all cause mortality, coronary death, or any major coronary event (death, non-fatal infarction or coronary artery surgery), increasing coffee consumption was associated with beneficial effects for mortality and coronary morbidity, whereas tea showed the opposite. Multiple adjustment for other risk factors removed the associations for tea and most of those for coffee although there was a residual benefit of coffee consumption in avoiding heart disease among men. Coffee and tea consumption in the Scottish Heart Health Study follow up: conflicting relations with coronary risk factors, coronary disease, and all cause mortality. Woodward M, Tunstall-Pedoe H. University of Reading. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1999 Aug;53(8):481-7

Longevity: Coffee Better Than Tea for Longevity in Japanese Study: In a 10 year follow-up study of 2,855 rural Japanese, researchers found 2 cups+ coffee RR 0.43 vs. less than ½ cup/day. Intermediate amount 0.7. No relationship with tea. Relationship between coffee and green tea consumption and all-cause mortality in a cohort of a rural Japanese population. Iwai N, Ohshiro H, Kurozawa Y, Hosoda T, Morita H, Funakawa K, Okamoto M, Nose T. J Epidemiol 2002 May;12(3):191-8

Longevity: No Association Between Coffee and Overall Mortality: In a 4 ½ year follow-up of Evans County, Georgia, residents in high stroke region, there was no association between death and high coffee intake. Z Ernahrungswiss ’76;15:143

Longevity: Kaiser Study No Mortality Effect by Coffee or Tea: 128,934 persons followed for years and had 4,501 subsequent deaths. Except for slightly increased risk from acute myocardial infarction among heavier (> or = 4 cups/d) coffee users (relative risk (RR) versus nondrinkers = 1.4, 95% confidence interval = 1.0 to 1.9, P = 0.07), there was no increased risk of mortality for all deaths (RR per cup of coffee per day = 0.99; RR per cup of tea per day = 0.98) or major causes in adjusted analyses. Coffee was related to lower risk of liver cirrhosis death (RR per cup of coffee per day = 0.77). Use of both beverages was related to a lower risk of suicide, progressively lower at higher coffee intake (relative risk per cup of coffee per day = 0.87, 95% confidence interval = 0.77 to 0.98). We conclude that coffee and tea have no overall relation to mortality risk. Coffee, tea, and mortality. Klatsky AL, Armstrong MA, Friedman GD. Ann Epidemiol 1993 Jul;3(4):375-81

Miscarriages: 6 Cups Coffee Causes Miscarriages: NEJM study 11/26/99 found paraxanthine blood levels, the breakdown product of caffeine, 30% higher in pregnant women with miscarriages vs. controls. The research estimate that 6 cups is too much, but 1-2 is OK. Other studies have found a variety of results including a few finding harmful effects even at lower levels.

U.S. Consumption: National intake of coffee averages 1-2 cups/day at 100-150 mg/cup caffeine. The half-life of caffeine is 3-8 hours with it peaking within minutes. Am J Psychiatry 2/99

Parkinson's: Coffee Blocks Parkinson’s in Japanese-Americans: 8,000 Japanese-Americans in Hawaii study found men without coffee were five times more likely have Parkinson’s than those drinking 5 cups per day and 2-3 times more likely than those drinking smaller amounts. JAMA 5/24/00

Parkinson's: Coffee Linked to Less Parkinson’s Disease: In a 30 years follow-up of 8004 Japanese-American men ages 45-68 years, 102 men developed Parkinson’s disease. The risk declined consistently with increased amounts of coffee, from 10.4 per 10,000 person-years in men who drank no coffee to 1.9 per 10,000 person-years in men who drank at least 28 oz/d (P<.001). Similar relationships were observed for caffeine from non-coffee sources (P=.03 for trend). Association of coffee and caffeine intake with the risk of Parkinson disease. Ross GW, Abbott RD, Petrovitch H, Morens DM, Grandinetti A, Tung KH, Tanner CM, Masaki KH, Blanchette PL, Curb JD, Popper JS, White LR. Honolulu VA. JAMA. 2000 May 24-31;283(20):2674-9

Parkinson's: Coffee, Tea Protect Against Parkinson’s; Heavy Metals, Toxins Bad: In a case-control study of 300 PD patients and 500 controls, conditional logistic regression analysis demonstrated that amount of coffee drunk (OR 0.79, p=0.006), amount of tea drunk (OR 0.72, p=0.014), number of cigarettes smoked (OR 0.38, p=0.003), history of heavy metal and toxin exposure (OR 11.8, p=0.044), and heart disease (OR 5.5, p=0.016) to be significant factors associated with PD. One unit of coffee and tea (3 cups/day for 10 years) would lead to a 22% and 28% risk reduction of PD. Dose-dependent protective effect of coffee, tea, and smoking in Parkinson's disease: a study in ethnic Chinese. Tan EK, Tan C, Fook-Chong SM, Lum SY, Chai A, Chung H, Shen H, Zhao Y, Teoh ML, Yih Y, Pavanni R, Chandran VR, Wong MC. Singapore General Hospital. J Neurol Sci. 2003 Dec 15;216(1):163-7

Prostate: Alcohol Decreases, Coffee Increases Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy: In a random population sample of 882 men over 64, the prevalence of surgery for BPH increased with age from 15% at 65 years to 41% at 80 years. There was a strong inverse association between alcohol intake and men treated surgically for BPH or in 'watchful waiting' for surgical intervention, but a positive correlation with coffee consumption. The body mass index and professional education were not associated with the risk of BPH. Benign prostatic hyperplasia: the opposite effects of alcohol and coffee intake. Gass R. University of Zurich. BJU Int. 2002 Nov;90(7):649-54

Suicide: Coffee and Caffeine Lowered Suicide Risk: In a 10-year follow-up of 86,626 female RNs ages 34 to 59, who were initially free of coronary heart disease, stroke, or cancer, 56 suicides occurred. Compared with non-drinkers of coffee, the age-adjusted relative risk of suicide for 2-3 cups/day was 0.34 and for 4+ was 0.42 (P=.002). These remained unchanged after adjusting for a broad range of potential confounding factors, including smoking, alcohol, medication (diazepam and phenothiazine), comorbid disease (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, or diabetes), marital status, and stress. A strong inverse relationship was similarly found for caffeine intake from all sources and risk of suicide. A prospective study of coffee drinking and suicide in women. Kawachi I, Willett WC, Colditz GA, Stampfer MJ, Speizer FE. Harvard. Arch Intern Med. 1996 Mar 11;156(5):521-5

Thomas E. Radecki, M.D., J.D.

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