Coffee or tea reduces the risk of stroke and dementia in people aged 50-74

People who drank 2-3 cups of coffee, 3-5 cups of tea, or a mix of 4-6 cups of coffee and tea per day had the lowest risk of stroke or dementia, a 10-years extensive study reveals.

People who drank 2-3 cups of coffee and 2-3 cups of tea daily had a 32% reduced risk of stroke and a 28% lower risk of dementia than those who drank neither coffee or tea. Coffee consumption, alone or in combination with tea, was likewise linked to a decreased risk of post-stroke dementia.

The study, conducted by Yuan Zhang and colleagues from Tianjin Medical University in China, included 365,682 people from the UK Biobank who were recruited between 2006 and 2010 were researched and tracked until 2020.

Strokes are potentially fatal events that account for 10% of all fatalities worldwide. Dementia is a broad term encompassing symptoms associated with a loss in brain function, and it is a major public health concern with a significant economic and social cost. Post-stroke dementia is a disorder in which dementia symptoms appear after a stroke.

Dementia is one of the world’s most serious health issues, with 130 million people predicted to be affected by the disease by 2050.

“Our findings revealed that moderate consumption of coffee and tea separately or in combination was related with a lower risk of stroke and dementia,” the authors wrote in the journal Plos Medicine.

The researchers noted, however, that the UK Biobank represents a highly healthy sample in comparison to the broader population, which may limit the ability to generalize these findings. While coffee and tea may be protective against stroke, dementia, and post-stroke dementia, the researchers caution the relationships cannot be used to determine causality.