A study published Feb. 4 in the journal Stroke found that daily consumption of coffee and green tea can help with the effects of heart attacks and strokes, reducing the risk of death from their consequences. In the long term, drinks can help prevent heart attacks and strokes in people who have not yet encountered these diseases.
The properties of green tea and coffee have repeatedly come to the attention of scientists, and the benefits of the drinks have been proven before, especially in relation to healthy people. The new study specifically targeted post-stroke and post-infarction patients, according to EureckAlert.
“There is an urgent need for scientific validation (the benefits of coffee and tea) for survivors of heart attacks and strokes, given the rapidly aging population and the need to increase life expectancy,” explained Hiroyasu Iso, a professor in Osaka, Japan and responsible author of the study.
Green tea: scientific facts about the benefits and dangers of the drink
To find out for sure, scientists analyzed medical records of more than 46 thousand patients from Japan aged 40 to 79 years, where 60% were women. Participants were asked to fill in questionnaires with information about lifestyle, diet and chronic conditions. Then the volunteers were divided into groups: the first included patients who had suffered a stroke, the second - myocardial infarction, and the third - healthy volunteers without a history of cardiovascular disease. Their data were compared with information on the amount and frequency of drinking green tea and coffee. The results were based on the universal volume of drinks: there are 100 million liquids in an average cup of tea, and about 150 million in a cup of coffee.
It was found that at least seven cups of green tea a day can help reduce the risk of recurring stroke or heart attack by 62%. A minimum of one cup of coffee a day reduces the risk of death from seizure effects by 22%. There was no statistically significant relationship between tea and coffee consumption and the risks of cardiovascular diseases in the third group of volunteers.
Healthy participants who indicated tea and coffee in their dietary habits had a 14% lower risk of death compared to those who preferred these drinks to others.
“It's important to note that in Japan, green tea is usually brewed without sugar, and sugar is added to coffee. But drinks show the most useful properties if sugar is not added to them at all,”said Iso.
The researchers also added that the scientific work was observational in nature, so scientists cannot give an answer to the question of why exactly tea and coffee keep people healthy after a heart attack or stroke. This requires further biochemical studies.
The American Stroke Association is a division of the American Heart Association founded in Dallas in 1998. It is committed to providing adequate medical care for stroke and heart attack patients. The Association works to prevent the risks of stroke, as well as provide treatment and defeat the disease, funding innovative research in this area and providing medical institutions and the public with the resources to save lives.>