A new paper in Rheumatology , published by Oxford University Press, finds that consuming more caffeine may improve heart health. Vascular disease, damage of blood vessels, and their resulting consequences, heart attack and stroke, are among the leading causes of death in the general population. In patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, these risks are even much higher.
This is both due to the diseases themselves and some of the treatments for them, particularly cortisone derivatives. Until now, doctors' recommendations to reduce these vascular risks were essentially about avoiding risk factors. This included stopping inflammation, decreasing cortisone medications, as well as conventional recommendations like not smoking, reducing cholesterol, and controlling high blood pressure.
But researchers from Sapienza University of Rome, in Italy, involved in this study believe patients may be able to improve vascular health by doing something that's actually enjoyable. The laboratory results of these investigators suggest that caffeine, present in coffee, tea, and cocoa, actively helps endothelial progenitor cells, the group of cells that helps regenerate the lining of blood vessels and are involved in vascular growth. It's well known that a diet rich in vitamin D (found in oily fish and eggs) and A (found in many fruits) and polyunsaturated fatty acid, and low in sodium, seems to play a role in decreasing the inflammatory burden.
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