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Coffee May Cut Stroke Risk In Women

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The Washington Post

Published: March 28, 2009

The pros and cons of coffee continue to be studied and debated. What might its effect be on stroke?

A recent study involved 83,076 women who had never had cancer, diabetes, heart disease or a stroke and were in their mid-50s at the study's start. 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, says the study in the journal Circulation. 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.

In the United States, twice as many women ages 55 and older die each year from a stroke as die from breast cancer, and more women than men die from stroke.

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.

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