Science News Archive

Tea Drinking Cuts Death Rate Amongst Heart Attack Patients

Scientists will announce tomorrow that drinking Tea regularly if you have had a heart attack has a protective effect on your health, according to a report in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The researchers found that among 1900 men and women who had had heart attacks, those who reported being heavy tea drinkers had a 44% lower death rate than non tea drinkers over the following 3 and a half years, whilst moderate Tea drinkers had a 28% lower death rate. They think that the key may be high levels of anti-oxidants called Flavonoids which are found in tea and also in fresh fruit and vegetables. Flavonoids can prevent cholesterol from forming fatty deposits which block up blood vessels, so they help to reduce the rate at which arteries become 'furred up'. Tea might also be able to prevent blood from clotting so readily, preventing damaged arteries from becoming blocked by blood clots, and other substances in Tea can help blood vessels to relax, lowering blood pressure. The researchers stress that there were no obvious differences in terms of life style, age or sex between the tea drinkers and non-tea-drinkers.

4th May 2002