Contrary to findings from an earlier study, recent research suggests that coffee lovers need not worry about heart failure.

Coffee may not be a threat to one’s heart as it was once suspected to be. Previous studies suggesting that heavy coffee consumption might contribute to heart attacks or other cardiac problems were mainly retrospective - asking heart attack sufferers about their coffee consumption and comparing them with people who had never had a heart attack. But recent studies have been better designed to weed out a true association. These so-called prospective studies have first asked people about their coffee intake and then followed them over time to record new cases of heart trouble.

Researchers studied and followed 37,315 middle-aged (ages 45 to 79 years) Swedish men for 9 years and found that those who regularly drank coffee were no more likely to develop heart failure than infrequent coffee drinkers. The researchers found no clear relationship between the men's reported coffee intake at the outset and their risk of developing heart failure.

Whether the findings apply to men with existing heart problems is not known. None of the men in the study had a history of heart attack. Heart-muscle damage from a heart attack is one of the major causes of heart failure. The study also did not include women. It's possible that the results could be different for women, but that seems unlikely. Since there no evidence was found of an association between coffee drinking and heart failure, the researchers concluded that it would be premature for people to give up coffee in an effort to prevent heart disease.