[News] Caffeine doubles miscarriage risk: study

[Newsbot]

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pregnant women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day have twice the risk of having a miscarriage as those who avoid caffeine, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

They said the study provides strong evidence that high doses of caffeine during pregnancy -- 200 milligrams or more per day or the equivalent of two cups of coffee -- significantly increase the risk of miscarriage.

And they said the research may finally put to rest conflicting reports about the link between caffeine consumption and miscarriage.

"Women who are pregnant or are actively seeking to become pregnant should stop drinking coffee for three months or hopefully throughout pregnancy," said Dr. De-Kun Li of Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, whose study appears in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

"There has been a lot of uncertainty about this," Li said in a telephone interview. "There was no firm advice from professional societies to say what a pregnant woman should do about caffeine intake."

Li said anywhere from 15 to 18 studies have found a link between caffeine use during pregnancy and miscarriage. But that association has been clouded by the fact that many pregnant women avoid caffeine because it makes them nauseated, which could skew the results.

Li and colleagues took pains to control for that possibility. Their study involved 1,063 pregnant women who were members of the Kaiser Permanente health plan in San Francisco from October 1996 through October 1998. Women in the group never changed their caffeine consumption during pregnancy.

What they found was women who consumed the equivalent of two or more cups of regular coffee or five 12-ounce cans of caffeinated soda -- were twice as likely to miscarry as pregnant women who avoided caffeine.

This risk appeared to be related to the caffeine, rather than other chemicals in coffee, because they also saw an increased risk when the caffeine was consumed in soda, tea, and hot chocolate.

Li said many researchers think caffeine is harmful because it stresses the fetus' immature metabolism. It may also decrease blood flow in the placenta, which could harm the fetus.

"To me, the safe dose is zero," Li said. "If you really have to drink coffee, try to limit it to one cup or at the most two cups." Or better yet, switch to decaffeinated beverages, he added.

Based on the findings, Dr. Tracy Flanagan, director of women's health at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, said pregnant women should think about limiting coffee to one cup a day, and they might want to cut it out entirely.

"So many causes of miscarriage are not controllable," she said in a telephone interview. "This is an opportunity to do something active."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080121/...ge_caffeine_dc

[Janet]

Thanks for that. I've been hearing a lot about this on the news. I've never been a big coffee drinker, but love that cup of a morning to get me going.

[DianaB]

I just started drinking coffee in the last few years. I'm so glad that I didn't drink it when I was younger. I really like the flavored creamers. My husband says that when I get done fixing my coffee it doesn't taste like coffee any more!!!!

[judy]

Have you been to the coffee places where they have all the syrups? 7-11 has all kinds of stuff!

I put flavored coffee, hot chocolate, raspberry syrup, flavored cream, and just one sugar so I can pretend I'm on a diet. Yummy!

[Janet]

I've never tried the different flavored coffees. I just always have one cup of Maxwell House with a little bit of Coffee Mate. I love the taste of just plain ole coffee. I'm afraid if I tried the flavors, I'd like it too much and be on fast idle all the time...LOL

[DianaB]

I tried a coffee that was flavored with syrup once and I didn't like it. I don't know if it was made right or not. I'll stick to the flavored creamers. I love hazelnut!!!!