WAIT! NO, WAIT! - Coffee IS bad for you

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Study links coffee to stiffening of arteries By Celia Hall (Filed: 03/09/2001)

THE first cup of coffee of the day may wake you up but it could also damage your arteries, the European Society of Cardiology was told in Stockholm yesterday.

Dr Charalambos Vlachopoulos, of Henry Dunant Hospital, Athens, who has studied the effects of coffee on blood vessels, said: "Our study demonstrates that just one cup of coffee could stiffen one's arteries."

He warned that this could lead to systolic hypertension, a blood pressure condition common among elderly people. The effect of one cup of coffee lasted for two or three hours, he said, and the first breakfast coffee after fasting all night might be the worst culprit.

Dr Vlachopoulos said the study had several implications for understanding heart disease and the effects of coffee. One was that the heart found it more difficult to pump against stiff rather than flexible arteries and that stiff arteries were more prone to rupture and losing their protective linings.

Dr Vlachopoulos added: "We do not yet know if we should abstain from coffee or what is the permitted consumption of coffee per day." He said that until they knew, people with high blood pressure and elderly people should switch to decaffeinated brands.

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2001


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