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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Adults in Japan who consumed five or more cups of green tea a day had a lower risk of death due to cardiovascular disease, according to a new study.
Researchers from Japan examined the association between green tea consumption and death due to cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and the overall death rate within a large population. Eighty percent of the population in this region drinks green tea, and more than half consume three or more cups a day.
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The study included 40,350 adults in northeastern Japan between 40 and 70 years of age. None of them had any history of stroke, coronary heart disease, or cancer at the beginning of the study.
The participants in this study were followed for 11 years, from 1995 to 2006. During the 11 years in which the study took place, 4,209 participants died. More than 800 of the participants died of cardiovascular disease, and 1,134 died of cancer.
Researchers then compared participants who drank less than one cup of green tea a day to those who drank at least five cups a day. Participants who consumed five or more cups a day had 16-percent lower risk of CVD-related death .
The association between green tea consumption and lower risk of CVD was higher among women. Of just the female participants, those who consumed five or more cups a day had a 31-percent lower risk of CVD-related death compared to those who drank less than one cup a day.
However, the researchers found no association between green tea consumption and death from cancer. Black tea and oolong tea were also involved in the study, but the associations were very weak.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2006; 296:1255-1265
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