Coffee may reduce the risk of stroke

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 11 (UPI) -- A study involving almost 35,000 women found those who drank little or no coffee had an increased risk of stroke, researchers in Sweden found.

Lead researcher Susanna Larsson of the National Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm said coffee consumption has been inconsistently associated with stroke incidence and mortality in previous studies.

The research team investigated the association between coffee consumption and stroke incidence in the Swedish Mammography Cohort, with women who did not have a history of cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline in 1997.

After a mean follow-up of 10.4 years, the researchers determined there were 1,680 stroke events. The association between coffee and cerebral infarction (stroke) was not modified by smoking, body mass index, history of diabetes, hypertension or alcohol consumption, the researchers said.

The study, published in the journal Stroke, found drinking one to five cups of coffee a day was associated with a 22 percent to 25 percent lower risk of stroke among women -- compared with those who drink no coffee or less than one cup a day.