The Monday Morning Stimulus

New-medical, The effect of coffee consumption on abdominal aortic calcification among adults

A new study published in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases explores how coffee consumption affects the incidence of abdominal aortic calcification (AAC), comparing adults with hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and those without.
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Calcification of the coronary arteries is linked to lower coffee consumption. In the current study, abdominal arterial calcification was used as an early marker of atherosclerosis, preceding the actual development of clinical disease.
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No significant associations were observed between coffee consumption and AAC scores overall. However, in the presence of any of these risk factors – hypertension, diabetes, and CVD – individuals with a mean coffee consumption of 390 g/d or more (high consumption) had higher AAC scores.

In the hypertensive group, the AAC score was 0.72 higher, with high consumption vs. none. This difference was not seen in non-hypertensive patients.

For diabetes, the difference was 1.2 units, while with CVD, the AAC scores were two units higher with high coffee consumption. This was not observable in adults without these diseases.

These associations were mirrored when decaf and caffeinated coffee drinkers were compared. Those who drank decaffeinated coffee were not at risk for higher AAC scores. Still, caffeinated coffee drinkers showed an increased risk, provided they had any of the three risk factors listed above.