Coffee may prolong life expectancy

A study by Gunter et al published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that drinking one cup of coffee a day was associated with a 12 percent decrease in risk of death, and that drinking two to three cups a day decreased the risk of death by 18 percent.

The authors studied a cohort of 521 330 persons from 10 European countries enrolled in European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).  They evaluated the association of coffee consumption with serum biomarkers of liver function, inflammation, and metabolic health.

During a mean follow-up of 16.4 years, 41 693 deaths occurred. Compared with non-consumers, participants in the highest quartile of coffee consumption had statistically significantly lower all-cause mortality. Inverse associations were observed for digestive disease mortality for both sexes. Among women, there was a statistically significant inverse association of coffee drinking with circulatory disease mortality and cerebrovascular disease mortality and a positive association with ovarian cancer mortality.

The authors concluded that coffee drinking was associated with reduced risk for death from various causes. This relationship did not vary among populations in the countries studied.

In another study by Parket al published in the Annals of Internal Medicine the authors report that coffee consumption was linked with a lower risk of death among racially diverse populations.  The study was conducted in Hawaii and Los Angeles and participants were 185 855 African Americans, Native Hawaiians, Japanese Americans, Latinos, and whites aged 45 to 75 years.  58 397 participants died during 16 years follow-up.  Compared with those who did not drink coffee, coffee consumption was associated with lower total mortality after adjustment for smoking and other potential confounders.

Among examined end points, inverse associations were observed for deaths due to heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes, and kidney disease.

The authors concluded that coffee consumption was associated with lower risk for death in African Americans, Japanese Americans, Latinos, and whites.  Only native Hawaiians did not reach statistical significance.

Coffee is one of the most frequently consumed beverages worldwide. In the United States, about 75% of adults drink coffee.  Coffee is a major source of caffeine and several bioactive substances.  Because of the widespread consumption of coffee, understanding its health effects is important.

Non-adherence to Antihypertensive Treatment

Research published in Hypertension by Gupta et al looked at the reasons of non-adherence to anti-hypertensive treatment.

The researchers used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry of urine and serum to detect non-adherence and explored its association with the main demographic- and therapy-related factors in 1348 patients with hypertension in the United Kingdom and Czech republic.

The researchers found that non-adherence to the blood pressure medications was inversely related to age and male sex and was as high as 41.6% in the UK and 31.5% in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, with each additional prescription, the rate of non-adherence increased to 85% and 77% in the UK and Czech populations.  The odds of non-adherence to diuretics were the highest among 5 classes of antihypertensive medications in both populations.

High blood pressure is the single most important risk factor for health loss and premature death worldwide.  Although treatment is proven to be effective, target blood pressures are only achieved in 40-50% of patients. This is likely due to a high number of patients taking their medicines incorrectly, or at all.

Bystander Resuscitation Reduces Brain Damage and Death from Cardiac Arrest

A study by Kragholm et al published in the NEJM reports that bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or defibrillation in patients with cardiac arrest offers benefits that persist for a year out from the event.

The authors looked at data of 2855 patients in Denmark who were 30-day survivors of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest during the period from 2001 through 2012.  Of those patients a total of 10.5% had brain damage or were admitted to a nursing home and 9.7% died during the 1-year follow-up period. During the study period, among the 2084 patients with cardiac arrests who were not resuscitated by emergency medical services personnel (EMS) the rate of bystander CPR increased from 66.7% to 80.6%, and the rate of defibrillation increased from 2.1% to 16.8%.  Interestingly, the rate of brain damage or nursing home admission decreased from 10.0% to 7.6%, and all-cause mortality decreased from 18.0% to 7.9%. The risks of these outcomes were even lower among patients who received bystander defibrillation as compared to no bystander resuscitation.

The authors concluded that patients on whom bystander CPR and defibrillation was performed had significantly lower risks of brain damage or nursing home admission and even death when compared to those who were not resuscitated. 

Increase in Amygdala’s activity worsens the risk for cardiovascular events.

Increase in Amygdala’s activity worsens the risk for cardiovascular events.

A study by Tawakol et al published in Lancet reports that individuals with increased activity in their amygdala are at greater risk of heart disease and stroke.

Their study was conducted on 293 adults who were imaged with PET and CT scans.  The imaging studies recorded increased activity in the brain, bone marrow, spleen and also inflammation in the coronary arteries.  Amygdala are nuclei located deep within the temporal lobes of the brain.  The amygdala, which are part of the limbic system, have a primary role in functions such as the processing of memory, decision making and emotions.

Amygdalar activity in 22 of the patients was associated with a cardiovascular event during a mean follow up period of 3.7 years (2.7-4.8).  The association between amygdalar activity and cardiovascular disease events seemed to be mediated by increased bone-marrow activity and arterial inflammation.

The researchers concluded that emotional stress is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease.  The findings from their study provide an understanding into the mechanism through which emotional stress can lead to cardiovascular disease in human beings.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)31714-7/fulltext