According to the research linked and excerpted below, moderate coffee consumption lowers coronary artery calcium. And coronary artery calcium and is associated with major adverse cardiovascular events.
My layman’s thinking as a person who enjoys 2-3 cups of black coffee every morning, I am helping my heart health by drinking coffee.
In addition to being a coffee drinker, I have several serious heart problems. I was diagnosed with chemotherapy-induced cardiomyopathy fully 15 years after I was treated with a number of cardiotoxic chemotherapy regimens.
In short, conventional oncology destroyed my heart. And did nothing to help my cancer diagnosis.
What health problems occur with coronary artery calcium?
Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is a marker of atherosclerosis, which is the buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. The presence of coronary artery calcium is often assessed using a test called coronary artery calcium scoring (CAC scoring). While CAC itself may not cause health problems, it serves as an indicator of underlying coronary artery disease (CAD) and can be associated with various health issues:
- Coronary Artery Disease (CAD): The primary concern with coronary artery calcium is its association with CAD. A high CAC score indicates a higher burden of coronary artery plaque, which can narrow the arteries and restrict blood flow to the heart. CAD can lead to chest pain (angina), heart attacks, and other cardiovascular events.
- Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack): A significant amount of coronary artery calcium is often indicative of advanced atherosclerosis, which increases the risk of a heart attack. If a plaque ruptures and forms a blood clot, it can block a coronary artery, leading to damage to the heart muscle.
- Stroke: Atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries is not limited to the heart. Plaque formation in other arteries, including those supplying the brain, can increase the risk of stroke.
- Coronary Artery Stenosis: The presence of calcium in the coronary arteries can contribute to the narrowing and stiffening of the arteries (stenosis), reducing blood flow to the heart. This can result in various cardiovascular issues.
- Cardiovascular Events: Individuals with a high CAC score are at an increased risk of experiencing cardiovascular events such as heart attacks, unstable angina, and other complications.
The point of this blog post is to bring attention to an inexpensive, tasty, evidence-based therapy for coronary artery calcium.
man hand holding his nutritional supplemets, healthy lifestyle background.
Are you a cancer patient or survivor? Have you undergone chemotherapy regimens that are cardiotoxic aka can cause damage to your heart? If you’d like to learn more about evidence-based non-conventional heart therapies like coffee, nutrition, nutritional supplementation and lifestyle therapies, let me know- David.PeopleBeatingCancer@gmail.com
Hang in there,
David Emerson
- Cancer Survivor
- Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
“Objective To investigate the association between regular coffee consumption and the prevalence of coronary artery calcium (CAC) in a large sample of young and middle-aged asymptomatic men and women…
The prevalence of detectable CAC (CAC score >0) was 13.4% (n=3364), including 11.3% prevalence for CAC scores 1–100 (n=2832), and 2.1% prevalence for CAC scores >100 (n=532). The mean ±SD consumption of coffee was 1.8±1.5 cups/day.
The multivariate-adjusted CAC score ratios (95% CIs) comparing coffee drinkers of <1, 1–<3, 3–<5, and ≥5 cups/day to non-coffee drinkers were 0.77 (0.49 to 1.19), 0.66 (0.43 to 1.02), 0.59 (0.38 to 0.93), and 0.81 (0.46 to 1.43), respectively (p for quadratic trend=0.02). The association was similar in subgroups defined by age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption, status of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolaemia…
The effect of coffee consumption on cardiovascular health has remained controversial.1 In spite of earlier concerns about a potential increase in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk associated with coffee consumption, a recent meta-analysis of 36 prospective studies showed that moderate coffee consumption was associated with a decreased risk of CVD, with the strongest reduction at 3–5 cups/day.2
Coffee consumption has been associated with
- improved insulin sensitivity,3–5
- reduced low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) oxidation,6 ,7
- and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.8 ,9…
In conclusion, we found that moderate daily coffee consumption was associated with decreased prevalence of CAC in a large sample of asymptomatic adults free of CVD.
Our study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that coffee consumption might be inversely associated with CVD risk….”
“Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is highly prevalent in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and is associated with major adverse cardiovascular events…
To date, effective medical treatment of CAC has not been identified…
Several studies have confirmed that advanced age, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, hypertension, male gender, cigarette smoking and renal disease are risk factors of intimal calcification…
Conclusions
Despite a significant amount of research addressing CAC, our understanding of the pathogenesis, clinical implication and management of CAC remains limited.
In terms of pathophysiology of CAC, the governing factors are not fully understood regarding formation of intimal versus medial calcification, and the clinical significance of these two types of CAC remains to be elucidated. On the other hand, CAC carries prognostic importance.
Coronary CTA is an established tool to assess CAC, and a score > 400 is associated with worse clinical outcomes in patients with an intermediate risk of developing CHD and in those with established CHD. Currently, there is no specific medical therapy targeting the reduction of CAC, and whether the treatment strategy limits the progression or enhances the regression of CAC or has prognostic impact needs further clinical studies.
On the other hand, in patients with CHD and significant coronary stenosis which necessitate revascularization therapy, the presence of moderate to severe CAC pose a clinical challenge. Specifically, developed PCI strategies have contributed to significantly higher procedure success, though morbidities are usually higher than in those patients without CAC as a result of the increased complexity of the procedures and higher cardiovascular risk profiles…”
