Coffee and the Risk of a Stroke

An American Stroke Association meeting poster (LB-P5) contains interesting information on the benefits of drinking coffee.  We know that coffee consumption is linked to a decreased risk of developing diabetes, and can improve short-term memory.  Now a British study shows that drinking coffee is linked with a decreased risk of stroke. 

University of Cambridge scientists analyzed data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer; at enrollment in 1993-1997 the participants were aged 39 to 79, and had no prior stroke, heart attack, or cancer.  Roughly 10,300 men and 12,600 women were followed for an average of 11 years.   

80% of the participants drank coffee – an average of 3.1 cups a day – and 20% said they never drank coffee.  There were 669 cases of stroke during follow-up.  After adjustments were made for differences in smoking, social class, education level, BMI, alcohol intake, activity level, tea drinking, and a battery of blood chemical test results, a clear difference in the risk of stroke between the coffee-drinkers and non-drinkers was found.  Compared with non-coffee drinkers, the coffee drinkers had a 27% reduced risk of stroke.  In smokers, the reduction was 61%.  Importantly, there was no ‘dose-dependence’ in coffee-drinking’s apparent protective effect. So there’s no reason to drink more coffee – one cup a day was enough in many of the subjects. It will, of course, be interesting to see if the results can be duplicated elsewhere, and then to find what factor, or factors, in coffee may be responsible.