Eating chocolate of all kinds may help men to reduce the risk of having a stroke, Swedish researchers reported last night.
Researchers found men who ate the most chocolate enjoyed the greatest protection against stroke.
The finding is the latest to link chocolate to benefits for the circulatory system – thought to be because of the high concentrations of plant materials, flavonoids, in the confectionery.
But it is unusual in that it included all kinds of chocolate, not just dark chocolate – and Swedes mainly eat milk chocolate.
Some 37,000 men over the age of 49 were involved in the research and were studied for ten years.
Those who ate the most chocolate had a 17 per cent reduced risk of succumbing to the illness compared with those who ate none, the researchers report in the journal Neurology.
This is equivalent to 12 fewer strokes among ten thousand people over a ten year period.
Researcher Dr Susanna Larsson, of the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, said:
"The beneficial effect of chocolate consumption on stroke may be related to the flavonoids in chocolate. Flavonoids appear to be protective against cardiovascular disease through antioxidant, anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory properties.
"It’s also possible that flavonoids in chocolate may decrease blood concentrations of bad cholesterol and reduce blood pressure.
"Interestingly, dark chocolate has previously been associated with heart health benefits, but about 90 percent of the chocolate intake in Sweden, including what was consumed during our study, is milk chocolate,"
* People with the so-called type A personality face a massively increased risk of succumbing to stroke, Spanish researchers report today.
Type A people tend to have quick tempers and to show signs such as hostility, aggression and impatience, researchers say.
The finding highlights how suffering chronic stress is also a major risk factor for stroke, according to the analysis in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
The findings come from a study of 150 adults treated for stroke in Madrid. They were compared with 300 healthy people of similar age.
The research also highlighted smoking, energy drinks, day-time sleepiness and male gender as risk factors. Men were nine times as likely as women to suffer a stroke.
And it showed that suffering a "major life event" in the previous year increased risk by four times, suggesting the impact of chronic stress.
Having a type A personality doubled risk and may also contribute to chronic stress, the researchers say.
The researchers write: "Chronic stress, manifested as physical and/or mental symptoms in response to stressors lasting longer than 6 months has been linked to a heightened risk of heart disease. But its impact on the risk of stroke has not been clear."
Neurology August 29 2012
Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry August 30 2012;doi 10.1136/jnnp-2012-302420
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