Good News for Coffee Drinkers

Have you ever had a stress test called adenosine nuclear scan? This test is done to look for blockages of the heart arteries. The heart is stressed by chemical means with the help of a medicine called adenosine. The caffeine interferes with the effect of this medicine. Because of that, patients undergoing this test are asked not to consume caffeine 12-24 hours prior to the test. To some of you coffee drinkers out there, the very thought of this probably sent a chill down your spine.
There might be good news for the coffee drinkers after all. A study published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology (J Am Coll Cardiol 2006;47:2296-2302)* suggests that drinking eight ounces of regular coffee as late as just one hour prior to adenosine nuclear scan may not affect accuracy of the test.
The present practice guidelines suggest that the adenosine stress test be cancelled if a patient for some reason ends up consuming caffeine before the test. If some more research studies with similar results as above were to come along, this will make both physicians’ and patients’ life much easier.

*In case you are wondering what these numbers in parenthesis mean, this is the information that can be used to locate the actual article.
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