Studies show that caffeine lowers risk of stroke in women

A recent study done by Dr. Esther Lopez-Garcia at the School of Medicine, at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain, revealed that drinking coffee can help lower the risk of stroke among women. A twenty-four year long study concluded recently that tracked around 80,000 healthy women's dietary habits. It was surprising when those studying the results found that women who drink more than 4 cups of coffee a day have a lower risk of getting a stroke when compared to those who drink 1 cup a month. The article claimed, "Using statistical tools like Cox regression models, the researchers analyzed the relative risks (RR) between the stroke events and coffee consumption, while ruling out potential confounders such as age, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), exercise/physical activity, use of alcohol, menopausal status, use of hormone therapy, use of aspirin, and other dietary factors." Over the twenty-four year study, there were 2,280 strokes recorded: 426 hemorrhagic , 1,224 ischemic, and 630 undetermined. The risk factor of those who drank 4 or more cups a day was 0.80. Those who drank one cup a month had a risk factor of 0.98. While these are positive results, the study is flawed in that it only studied healthy women with no histories of anything that would cause a stroke such as, diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. The studies do not show that coffee consumption will lower risk in women with other pre-existing factors. Dr. Lopez-Garcia commented on her beilief that antioxidants in the coffee lowered risks by saying, "Antioxidants in coffee lower inflammation and improve blood vessel function." This is positive news for women that are healthy, unfortunately those with pre-existing conditions that can cause stroke should not look to this study as a way to lower their risk of stroke.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/139218.php