Atrial fibrillation—aka AFib or AF—is an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) in the upper chambers (atria) of the heart. In AFib, random irregular electrical signals cause the atria to quiver. So some of the blood stays behind in the atria, which makes the blood more likely to clot.
AFib can cause rapid, fluttering, or pounding heartbeats, lightheadedness, extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain...or no symptoms at all.
In a study that tracked roughly 386,000 people for 4½ years, drinking coffee wasn’t linked to a higher risk of irregular heart rhythms like atrial fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia.
Because caffeine appears to increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriages, preterm delivery, stillbirth, and childhood leukemia (and possibly birth defects) and inhibits fetal growth, women who are pregnant or may become pregnant should avoid caffeine.
In September 2015, FDA issued enforcement letters to five companies that sold pure, powdered caffeine. While those companies stopped marketing the product, the problem is bigger than those companies.
CSPI thus requests that FDA limit the form in which caffeine is sold to prevent unreasonable risks to adolescents and others from overdoses of caffeine.
