Jan 27, 2016 09:01 AM EST By Rashmi Kalia, UniversityHerald Reporter

A new study has revealed that regular caffeine consumption does not lead to extra heartbeats, the Economic Times reports.

A high heart rate is associated to heart- or stroke-related morbidity and mortality in rare cases.

The study by researchers from University of California in San Francisco (UCSF) measured the chronic, not acute, consumption of caffeinated products over a 12-month period.

Caffeine consumption has been linked to excessive premature atrial contractions (PACs) and excessive premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), both of which have been shown to result in increased heart failure, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation and death. 

However, these studies were performed several decades ago and did not use PACs and PVCs as a primary outcome. 

For the study, the researchers analysed 1,388 randomly selected participants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Cardiovascular Health Study database of nearly 6,000 patients, excluding those with persistent extra heartbeats. 

Of the total participants, 840 consumed more than one caffeinated product daily. 

The researchers found no differences in the number of PACs or PVCs per hour across different levels of coffee, tea and chocolate consumption. The consumption of these products was not linked to extra heartbeats.

"Clinical recommendations advising against the regular consumption of caffeinated products to prevent disturbances of the heart's cardiac rhythm should be reconsidered,  .. 

"This was the first community-based sample to look at the impact of caffeine on extra heartbeats, as previous studies looked at people with known arrhythmias," said lead author Shalini Dixit, a fourth-year medical student at UCSF. 

The findings were published in the journal of the American Heart Association. 

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