Does Drinking Coffee Lower Mortality?

Many epidemiologic studies on the effects of coffee drinking on total mortality and disease-specific mortality have been small and underpowered and have produced conflicting results. In the mid-1990s, epidemiologists at the National Cancer Institute administered a detailed diet and lifestyle questionnaire to 402,260 members of the AARP. The participants (age range, 50–71), who were free of heart disease, stroke, and cancer at study onset, were followed for a decade — more than 5.1 million person-years of follow-up.

After adjusting for many potential confounders, a graded and inverse relation was found between the amount of coffee consumed and total mortality, as well as disease-specific mortality from heart disease, stroke, respiratory disea…