Siddhant Malani

What is the relationship between caffeine intake and heart arrhythmias? What are the associated safety risks and important considerations for caffeine product use?

Started May 25, 2023

Abstract or project description

Caffeine is one of the most commonly consumed stimulants and is found in many items like coffee and energy drinks. Heart arrhythmias are irregular heart rhythms which can occur when the electrical signals that control the heart's rhythm are not functioning properly. Due to the stimulant properties of caffeine, it is theorized that caffeine consumption may cause tachycardias (fast heart beat) like ventricular arrhythmias. This review article aims to describe the relationship between caffeine intake and heart arrhythmias. A comprehensive PubMed search using the search terms ‘caffeine arrhythmia’ was conducted. A total of 26 search results were obtained.The majority of clinical studies suggest there are no concrete links between caffeine consumption and arrhythmias. There is no relationship between caffeine and ventricular arrhythmias 1.00 (95%CI 0.94-1.06;13.5%, p = 0.32). Conversely, caffeine consumption has an inverse relationship with the risk of atrial fibrillation (p for overall trend = 0.015; p for nonlinearity = 0.27). Caffeine related deaths are uncommon, however, certain groups such as infants, psychiatric patients, and athletes may have an increased risk of arrhythmias following caffeine consumption. Overall, caffeine consumption is not strongly linked to heart arrhythmias and limited studies suggest it reduces the risk of arrhythmias. Although there is not a strong relationship between caffeine intake and heart arrhythmias it does cause other cardiovascular problems including high blood pressure and hence should be consumed responsibly (40-180 mg/day).