Strokes are deadly and account for 10% of global mortality. Dementia is a global health issue with a high economic and social burden.
Strokes are life-threatening and account for 10% of all deaths worldwide. In general, the term “dementia” refers to a wide range of symptoms that are associated with decline in brain function. Dementia symptoms may begin to appear after a stroke, known as post-stroke dementia.
Now, a new study, that included healthy people between 50 to 74, published in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine says that drinking tea or coffee could lower the risk of stroke and dementia.
Additionally, coffee was found to lower the risk of post-stroke dementia.
Yuan Zhang and colleagues from Tianjin Medical University in Tianjin, China, investigated 365,682 UK Biobank subjects recruited between 2006 and 2010, and followed them until 2020. Participants self-reported their coffee and tea consumption at the start of the study. Over the course of the trial, 5,079 people got dementia and 10,053 had at least one stroke.
The people who consumed 2-3 cups of coffee, 3-5 cups of tea, or a combination of 4–6 cups of coffee and tea per day had the lowest risk of stroke or dementia. When compared to those who drank neither coffee nor tea, individuals who drank 2-3 cups of coffee and 2-3 cups of tea daily had a 32 percent lower risk of stroke (HR, 0.68, 95 percent CI, 0.59-0.79; P <0.001) and a 28 percent lower risk of dementia (HR, 0.72, 95 percent CI, 0.59-0.89; P =0.002). Coffee consumption, either alone or in combination with tea, was likewise linked to a reduced incidence of post-stroke dementia.
The UK Biobank represents a highly healthy sample in comparison to the overall population, which may limit the capacity to generalize these findings. Furthermore, because so few persons had dementia or stroke, it can be difficult to generalize rates effectively to larger populations. Finally, while coffee and tea drinking may be protective against stroke, dementia, and post-stroke dementia, the relationships cannot be used to infer causality.
The authors said, “Our findings suggested that moderate consumption of coffee and tea separately or in combination were associated with lower risk of stroke and dementia.”
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