Coffee Chronicles

By Melissa August, Ann Marie Bonardi, Val Castronovo, Matthew Cooper, Daren Fonda, Benjamin Nugent, Julie Rawe, Victoria Rainert

JOE'S BLOWS Last week researchers reported that coffee might help prevent Parkinson's disease. So is the caffeine bean good for you or not? Over the years, studies haven't exactly been clear:

According to scientists, too much coffee may cause...

1986 --phobias, --panic attacks

1990 --heart attacks, --stress, --osteoporosis

1991 --underweight babies, --hypertension

1992 --higher cholesterol

1993 --miscarriages

1994 --intensified stress

1995 --delayed conception

But scientists say coffee also may help prevent...

1988 --asthma

1990 --colon and rectal cancer, --impotence

1992 --mental sluggishness, --heart disease (instant only)

1996 --fatal car accidents, --suicide

1999 --gallstones, --heart disease

2000 --Parkinson's disease