Another new study of 365,000 people aged 50-74 finds that moderate consumption of coffee and tea could have health benefits including lowering the risk of getting stroke and dementia
The following written content from Timothy Huzar
A recent study investigated whether there is a relationship between coffee and tea consumption, stroke, dementia, and poststroke dementia.The authors found a relatively weak association between consuming these beverages and the risk of dementia and stroke.
In a new study, researchers conclude that drinking coffee, tea, or both is associated with a reduced risk of dementia or stroke.
However, the research, which appears in the journal PLOS Medicine, does not demonstrate that coffee and tea directly cause decreased risk. Scientists will need to conduct more research to understand if the relationship is causal.
Although researchers have investigated links between coffee, tea, stroke, and dementia in the past, “considerable controversy” remains, as the authors of the new study explain.
Additionally, they write that “little is known about the association between the combination of tea and coffee and the risk of stroke and dementia and poststroke dementia.” The current study goes some way toward plugging this gap.
Dementia and stroke
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 55 millionTrusted Source people around the world have dementia, and it is the seventh leading cause of mortality globally.
Dementia is a general name for a variety of symptoms characterized by progressive cognitive decline. It mainly affects older people.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source point out that Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia.
According to the CDCTrusted Source, stroke is another leading cause of death. In the United States, more than 795,000 people experience a stroke each year.
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is blocked or a blood vessel in the brain bursts. This causes brain tissue to die or become damaged.
Stroke and dementia share around 60% of the same risk factors and preventive factors. Stroke also significantly increases the chances of developing dementia. Researchers have estimated that preventing people from having a stroke could prevent one-thirdTrusted Source of dementia cases.
Given the prevalence of dementia and stroke, scientists are interested to understand which lifestyle factors influence risk.
Tea and coffee consumption is one such lifestyle factor. Many people worldwide regularly drink tea or coffee, meaning that even a small potential effect could be significant at a population level.
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In the present study, the authors note that some research has shown that drinking more tea or coffee is associated with a reduced risk of dementia. However, there is little research looking at whether a combination of tea and coffee is also associated with the same effect.
Further, the study authors point out that findings have been contradictory about whether coffee and tea consumption is associated with a reduced risk of stroke.
Consequently, the researchers conducted a study of the relationship between dementia and stroke risk and the consumption of tea, coffee, and a combination of tea and coffee.
Over 350,000 participants
The researchers drew on data from the U.K. Biobank, a database containing detailed medical and genetic information from 500,000 people in the United Kingdom.
They used data from 365,682 of these participants, recruited between 2006 and 2010. The researchers tracked their medical records until 2020.
When participants joined the study, they self-reported the amount of tea or coffee they consumed per day. The researchers then looked at how many participants experienced a stroke or developed dementia during the study period.
They also accounted for some other factors that may influence dementia or stroke risk. These included sex, age, ethnicity, educational qualification level, income, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical activity, diet patterns, certain biomarkers, and history of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular arterial disease, and hypertension.
Reduced risk
Overall, 5,079 participants developed dementia during the study period, and 10,053 had a stroke.
The researchers compared this data with the information on the amount of tea, coffee, or a combination of tea and coffee participants consumed.
They found that people who drank 2–3 cups of coffee a day, 3–5 cups of tea a day, or 4–6 cups of tea and coffee a day had the lowest risk of dementia and stroke.
Participants who drank 2–3 cups of tea and 2–3 cups of coffee per day were 32% less likely to have a stroke and 28% less likely to develop dementia when compared with participants who did not drink tea or coffee. Read more from Medical News
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