Drinking coffee or tea can cut dementia risk by a quarter

By Health Reporter for The Post

It’s good news for coffee or tea drinkers – new research suggests that it may be linked with a lower risk of stroke and dementia.

The risk of suffering a stroke was cut by almost a third according to a 15 year study.

The number of dementia cases that developed after a stroke was halved.

“Our findings suggested that moderate consumption of coffee and tea separately or in combination were associated with lower risk of stroke and dementia,” the authors of the study said in a release.

Many people enjoy their early morning tea or coffee but it may also be good for our health

Researchers studied 365,682 participants from the UK Biobank study, who were recruited between 2006 and 2010 and followed them until 2020.

They found that people who drank two to three cups of coffee, or three to five cups of tea per day, or a combination of four to six cups of coffee and tea had the lowest incidence of stroke or dementia.

Flavonoids and caffeine

However, the scientists highlight that the UK Biobank reflects a relatively healthy sample relative to the general population which could restrict the ability to generalise these associations.

Additionally, relatively few people developed dementia or stroke which can make it difficult to extrapolate rates accurately to larger populations.

Finally, while it is possible that coffee and tea consumption might be protective against stroke, dementia and post-stroke dementia, researchers say causality cannot be concluded from the associations.

Both drinks are rich in caffeine and plant chemicals called flavonoids that increased bloodflow to the brain.

Experiments found that they dampen inflammation.

Dementia affects nearly 1 million people in the UK

Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia affect nearly 1 million people in the UK and are forecast to double by 2050.

Writing in the Plos Medicine journal, 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.”

Another study of almost 75,000 Swedish men and women found 4 cups of tea reduce the risk of a stroke by more than a fifth. For more health articles go to https://goodnewspost.co.uk/category/health/

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