Drinking Coffee May Help Women Avoid Stroke

A report published in the March 3 print edition of Circulation has essentially dispelled the lingering myth that drinking coffee poses a risk for stroke among women. The study not only concluded that coffee drinking may deter risk, the more coffee one drinks the greater the deterrent. The women studied were divided among those who consumed less than 1 cup of coffee per month, those who drank 1 cup per month to 4 cups per week; 5 to 7 cups per week; 2 to 3 cups per day; and 4 or more cups per day. The trend for a reduced risk for stroke with higher coffee consumption was statistically significant. Those women who consumed two or three cups of coffee daily did lower their risk of any kind of stroke by 10% versus those who drank only an occasional cup. Drinking four or more cups of coffee actually lowered the risk of stroke by 20%. Those who drank more, five to seven cups, lowered their risk 19%. Coffee was more effective in preventing ischemic than preventing hemorrhagic strokes. During the study's 24-year study period, 2,280 strokes did occur, with 1,224 ischemic strokes, commonly follows a blockage of a vital blood vessel, 426 hemorrhagic strokes, and 630 strokes of undetermined cause.

A report published in the March 3 print edition of Circulation has essentially dispelled the lingering myth that drinking coffee poses a risk for stroke among women. The study not only concluded that coffee drinking may deter risk, the more coffee one drinks the greater the deterrent.

The women studied were divided among those who consumed less than 1 cup of coffee per month, those who drank 1 cup per month to 4 cups per week; 5 to 7 cups per week; 2 to 3 cups per day; and 4 or more cups per day.

The trend for a reduced risk for stroke with higher coffee consumption was statistically significant. Those women who consumed two or three cups of coffee daily did lower their risk of any kind of stroke by 10% versus those who drank only an occasional cup. Drinking four or more cups of coffee actually lowered the risk of stroke by 20%. Those who drank more, five to seven cups, lowered their risk 19%.

Coffee was more effective in preventing ischemic than preventing hemorrhagic strokes. During the study's 24-year study period, 2,280 strokes did occur, with 1,224 ischemic strokes, commonly follows a blockage of a vital blood vessel, 426 hemorrhagic strokes, and 630 strokes of undetermined cause.

Women who developed high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol were not linked to lower stroke risk when coffee drinking was a part of their daily beverage consumption.

Researchers assert that it may not be the caffeine but other components of the coffee that help prevent the strokes, perhaps the antioxidant levels. More study on why coffee works against developing strokes in women will be pursued.

The researchers adjusted for such factors as age, smoking status, body mass index, physical activity, alcohol intake, menopausal status, hormone therapy, aspirin use, and dietary factors but still found no significant risk in drinking coffee.

Smoking habits play a greater role in the development of a stroke than drinking caffeinated beverages. Those women who never smoked or had smoked and quit, and also drank four or more cups of a coffee per day reduced the risk of all types of stroke by 43%; those women who drank coffee but smoked reduced the risk of stroke by only 3%.

The report is the latest among hundreds of studies that resulted from the decades-long Nurses' Health Study that involved more than 83,000 women who averaged age 55. This current report reveals that 84% of the women consumed caffeinated coffee, 78% drank caffeinated tea, and 54% drank caffeinated sodas. Caffeinated teas and sodas did not, however, have a significant impact in the reduction of the risk of a stroke.

Circulation also reported, in a separate article, that the Mediterranean diet which is high in monounsaturated fats, plant-based proteins, whole grains, and fish offers women protection against the risk for both heart disease and stroke, suggesting that diet is a dominant factor in achieving health in women.

NOTE: The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health. Circulation, March 3, 2009, with contributions from Rob M. van Dam, of Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; Teresa T. Fung, Simmons College, and contributions by researchers in Spain including Ester Lopez-Garcia, PhD, from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.