WOMEN WHO DRINK COFFE HAVE LOWER DEATH RATE BUT MEN DON'T

Women who drink coffee regularly have lower death rates, a benefit that doesn't appear to accrue to men, a Spanish researcher says.

Lead author Esther Lopez-Garcia and colleagues analyzed data from 84,214 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study and 41,736 men who participated in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

The researchers found women consuming two to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day had a 25 percent lower risk of death from heart disease during the follow-up period which lasted from 1980 to 2004 compared with non drinkers and an 18 percent lower risk of death caused by something other than cancer or heart disease as compared with non-drinkers during follow-up.

For men, this level of consumption was associated with neither a higher nor a lower risk of death during the follow-up period, which lasted from 1986 to 2004.

The findings are published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.