Java lovers will appreciate the health benefits of coffee identified by a new Swedish study, namely women who drink one to as many as five cups of coffee each day may be cutting their heart stroke risk by up to 25%.
What's more, women who don't drink coffee may be increasing their stroke risk.
The findings are preliminary, so you'll need to keep your eyes peeled for more work.
Doctors consider a stroke to be a medical emergency that happens when blood flow to the brain is stopped.
There are two types of stroke - the most common, ischemic, happens when a blood clot blocks a vessel inside the brain.
Hemorrhagic strokes are the other type, and happen when a blood vessel breaks and bleeds into surrounding tissue.
A brief interruption to the blood supply to the brain is known as a transient ischemic attack, or TIA.
Even a little bit of coffee might be enough to help reduce your risk of stroke.
The team collated information on just under 35,000 women between 49 and 83.
Between the years 1998 to 2008 there were 1,680 subjects in the study who had experienced a stroke, but those who drank coffee had a 22-25% lower risk.
This held even after accounting for factors that impact stroke risk, things like smoking, your weight, having diabetes, hypertension or drinking.
Experts speculate that coffee might bring down inflammation, reduce oxidative stress and lower insulin resistance.
These are all things that could be helpful when it comes to lowering stroke risk.
There are some issues with this particular study and there are still many things that have not been accounted for.
What's more, an association between two things doesn't mean that one causes the other.
In this particular case, the study surveyed coffee consumption via a questionnaire, and subsequently followed the participants over time without allowing for the fact that they might have changed their coffee drinking behavior.
There was also no control for medications or other potential risk factors in the participants.
Also of note, this study is limited to people from Scandinavian countries, who drink caffeinated coffee.
No one can say if the results of this work would translate to other groups.
Last year, British researchers saw a relationship between coffee drinking and a lower stroke risk in the general population.
The study followed 23,000 participants for an average 12 years.
Those who drank coffee had a 27% reduced risk of stroke than the participants who never drank it.
2010 also saw the release of research that found consuming coffee or tea in moderate amounts cut the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Another study published last year was a 13-year investigation that followed 37,514 Netherlands residents.
Those that drank two to four cups of coffee a day had a 20% reduced risk of heart disease in comparison to those who had less than this amount each day.
Moderate intake of coffee slightly reduced death risk from heart disease along with all other causes.
So...
if you're an avid fan of the health benefits of coffee, this study gives you one more reason to enjoy your favorite beverage.
If you aren't, this isn't reason to start, but the possibility of a lower heart stroke risk is certainly reason to consider it.
What's more, women who don't drink coffee may be increasing their stroke risk.
The findings are preliminary, so you'll need to keep your eyes peeled for more work.
Doctors consider a stroke to be a medical emergency that happens when blood flow to the brain is stopped.
There are two types of stroke - the most common, ischemic, happens when a blood clot blocks a vessel inside the brain.
Hemorrhagic strokes are the other type, and happen when a blood vessel breaks and bleeds into surrounding tissue.
A brief interruption to the blood supply to the brain is known as a transient ischemic attack, or TIA.
Even a little bit of coffee might be enough to help reduce your risk of stroke.
The team collated information on just under 35,000 women between 49 and 83.
Between the years 1998 to 2008 there were 1,680 subjects in the study who had experienced a stroke, but those who drank coffee had a 22-25% lower risk.
This held even after accounting for factors that impact stroke risk, things like smoking, your weight, having diabetes, hypertension or drinking.
Experts speculate that coffee might bring down inflammation, reduce oxidative stress and lower insulin resistance.
These are all things that could be helpful when it comes to lowering stroke risk.
There are some issues with this particular study and there are still many things that have not been accounted for.
What's more, an association between two things doesn't mean that one causes the other.
In this particular case, the study surveyed coffee consumption via a questionnaire, and subsequently followed the participants over time without allowing for the fact that they might have changed their coffee drinking behavior.
There was also no control for medications or other potential risk factors in the participants.
Also of note, this study is limited to people from Scandinavian countries, who drink caffeinated coffee.
No one can say if the results of this work would translate to other groups.
Last year, British researchers saw a relationship between coffee drinking and a lower stroke risk in the general population.
The study followed 23,000 participants for an average 12 years.
Those who drank coffee had a 27% reduced risk of stroke than the participants who never drank it.
2010 also saw the release of research that found consuming coffee or tea in moderate amounts cut the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
Another study published last year was a 13-year investigation that followed 37,514 Netherlands residents.
Those that drank two to four cups of coffee a day had a 20% reduced risk of heart disease in comparison to those who had less than this amount each day.
Moderate intake of coffee slightly reduced death risk from heart disease along with all other causes.
So...
if you're an avid fan of the health benefits of coffee, this study gives you one more reason to enjoy your favorite beverage.
If you aren't, this isn't reason to start, but the possibility of a lower heart stroke risk is certainly reason to consider it.
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