Intake of coffee appears to be linked to growing risk of young adults with high blood pressure developing diabetes, new research has found.
Researchers linked caffeine to a condition known as "pre-diabetes" – in which high blood sugar levels suggest someone has a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The study involved 1,180 high blood pressure patients aged 18 to 45. Of these, 639 patients were tested for CYP1A2, an enzyme that metabolises caffeine.
Most (74%) of the participants drank coffee, of whom 87% drank up to three cups a day, and 13% drank more than three cups. Among the whole group of coffee drinkers, 42% were "fast metabolisers" of caffeine, according to their CYP1A2 genotype.
The risk of developing prediabetes was linked to coffee consumption only in slow caffeine metabolisers. It raised the risk nearly three-fold for those drinking more than three cups a day. For the study, prediabetes was defined as a fasting plasma glucose of 100 to 125 mg/dL. Findings were presented yesterday (2 September) at the conference of the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona, Spain, by Dr Lucio Mos from Italy.
"Lifestyle factors are very important for the prognosis of young people with hypertension," said Dr Mos. "In a previous analysis we found that coffee was a risk factor for the development of sustained hypertension and that the risk was modulated by the genetic background of the individual. Slow metabolisers of caffeine were at increased risk of hypertension.
"This study shows that drinking coffee increases the risk of prediabetes in young adults with hypertension who are slow caffeine metabolisers. The risk of prediabetes is even greater if these individuals are overweight or obese, and if they are heavy drinkers of coffee."
Dr Mos believes: "Young-to-middle-age people with hypertension should be aware that coffee consumption may increase their risk of developing diabetes in later life."
* A second study reported yesterday says getting breakfast every day helps reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes in children
Angela Donin, of St. George’s, University of London, reported her findings in PLoS Medicine.
Regular Breakfast Consumption and Type 2 Diabetes Risk Markers in 9- to 10-Year-Old Children in the Child Heart and Health Study in England (CHASE): A Cross-Sectional Analysis. PLoS Med 2 September 2014; 11(8): e1001703. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001703
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