Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 8, 1991                   TAG: 9103080133
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA                                LENGTH: Medium

RESEARCHERS: WAKE UP AND DON'T SMELL THE COFFEE

The researchers think the drop might be larger in people with high blood pressure, who should be advised to give up coffee, said one of the study's authors, Dr. Robert Superko of Stanford University.

"Maybe this will help them prevent drug treatment" for high blood pressure, said the study's principal author, Jeff Myll of Stanford. "It's worth a try."

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.

The National Coffee Association said the drop in blood pressure was small and that other studies have shown no effect of coffee on blood pressure.

"This study should not raise concern among coffee drinkers watching their blood pressure," the association said in a statement.

But Superko said the fall in blood pressure was significant, and that it varied among the subjects in the study.

"There are some people who went down profoundly," he said.

The study was done with 120 healthy men with a median age of 45. They were given three to six cups of coffee a day for eight weeks, and then half of them were taken off coffee.

When researchers compared the coffee drinkers with the non-coffee drinkers, they found a difference of 5 points in systolic blood pressure - when the heart is pumping - and a difference of about 3 points in diastolic pressure - when the heart is relaxed between beats.

Blood pressure was measured with a device that patients wore, so readings could be recorded every half hour throughout the day, the researchers said.

This provides a more accurate assessment of the effect of coffee on blood pressure, they said. No difference in blood pressure was found when patients were measured in the conventional manner, Superko said.

The researchers said 56 percent of Americans consume an average of 3.4 cups of coffee per day.

"Coffee may be the most common dietary additive in the American diet," they said.