Stroke and coffee

March 3, 2009

For women, coffee seems to bestow protection.

THE QUESTION Healthwise, the pros and cons of coffee continue to be studied

and debated. What might its effect be on stroke?

THIS STUDY involved 83,076 women who had never had cancer, diabetes, heart

disease or a stroke and were in their mid-50s at the start of the study.

During the next 24 years, 2,280 of them had a stroke. Overall, women who

drank moderate to high amounts of coffee were less likely to have had a

stroke than were those who drank little or no coffee. Two to three cups a

day corresponded to a 19 percent lower risk of a stroke, compared with a cup

or less a month. Nonsmokers who drank four or more cups of coffee daily had

a 43 percent reduction in risk, but smokers who drank that much coffee had

just a 3 percent risk reduction. Higher consumption of decaffeinated coffee

also conveyed somewhat lower risk, but such caffeinated drinks as tea and

soda did not.

WHO MAY BE AFFECTED? Women 55 and older. In the United States, twice as many

women die each year from a stroke as die from breast cancer, and more women

than men die from stroke.

CAVEATS Data on coffee consumption came from the women's responses on

periodic questionnaires. The authors theorized that " components in coffee

other than caffeine may lower the risk of stroke. " People with insomnia,

anxiety or high blood pressure should consult with a doctor before

increasing their consumption of coffee.

FIND THIS STUDY Feb. 16 online issue of Circulation.

LEARN MORE ABOUT women and stroke at http://www.stroke.org and

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