Coffee may lead to reduced risk of stroke in women

Friday, 11 March 2011 4:58 PM

A new study from the National Institute of Environmental Medicine in Stockholm, Sweden, has claimed that drinking coffee may lead to a reduced risk of stroke in women.

The research - reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association – found that women drinking more than a cup of coffee a day had a 22 percent to 25 percent lower risk of stroke, compared with those who drank less than a cup a day.

Scientists have long theorised that coffee could have either beneficial or harmful effects, but earlier studies have been inconclusive. Only one previous prospective study, which was also inconclusive, examined the association between coffee consumption and stroke incidence in healthy women.

Commenting on the research findings, lead author of the study, Susanna Larsson, said: "Our research group has previously observed an inverse association between coffee consumption and risk in Finnish male smokers. We wanted to assess the situation in women."

"Some women have avoided consuming coffee because they have thought it is unhealthy. In fact, increasing evidence indicates that moderate coffee consumption may decrease the risk of some diseases such as diabetes, liver cancer and possibly stroke."
 

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