Positive Association between Coffee Consumption and All-Cause Mortality

Excessive coffee consumption associated with an increased risk of death….

A recent cohort study involving over 40,000 patients over a span of 30 years collected data in order to evaluate the association between coffee consumption and mortality from all causes and from cardiovascular disease. During the 17 year median follow up, 2512 deaths occurred, 32% of which were due to cardiovascular disease.

Men who drank more than 28 cups of coffee per week subsequently had higher all-cause mortality. After adjusting for confounders, men and women less than 55 years old showed a significant association between excessive coffee consumption and all cause mortality. In men, those who were heavy coffee drinkers had a 21% higher risk of dying compared with non-coffee consumers. For those 55 years and older, this association was not statistically significant for either sex.

Most inverse relationships between coffee consumption and mortality were observed from studies on the basis of middle-aged or older populations. This present study had a wide age range from 20-87 years old. The authors of this study suggest that younger individuals should avoid more than 4 cups of coffee per day.

Practice Pearls:

• Men who drank more than 28 cups per week had a higher risk of all-cause mortality
• Men and women <55 years old who drink more than 28 cups of coffee per week had a higher risk of all-cause mortality than those who did not drink coffee.
• There is no statistical significance between heavy coffee consumption and all cause mortality in those >55 years.

Mayo Clinic Proceedings, August 2013