Coffee Curtails Calcification

A number of previous studies suggest a variety of health-boosting effects of modest coffee consumption.  Yoosoo Chang, from Kangbuk Samsung Hospital (South Korea), and colleagues studied  coffee intake among 25,138 Korean men and women, mean age 41.3 years), who did not have clinical signs of cardiovascular disease.  Subjects were assessed via food questionnaire and CT scan to ascertain coronary artery calcium (CAC) score – a marker of coronary atherosclerosis that can increase a person’s risk of blood clots and heart attack.  The team observed that the participants that drank 3 to 5 cups of coffee a day had a lower CAC score.  The study authors conclude that: “In this large sample of men and women apparently free of clinically evident cardiovascular disease, moderate coffee consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis.”