Coffee and subarachnoid haemorrhage
- Department of Neurology, University of Washington, Harborview Medical Center, 325 Ninth Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98104–2420, USA
- Correspondence to: Dr W T Longstreth; wl{at}u.washington.edu
The link between coffee and subarachnoid haemorrhage is unresolved
You may be making enemies, especially in Seattle, if you conclude from the study of Isaksen et al that coffee is a risk factor for subarachnoid haemorrhage (this issue, pp 185-7).1 Love of java necessitates a critical evaluation. Are we dealing with coincidence, confounding, or causation? In a case-control study, these investigators drew subjects from a population based health survey of inhabitants in the municipality of Tromsø, Norway. At variable times before the bleeding (maximum 186 months) participants had been evaluated. The investigators found that cigarette smoking and high systolic blood pressure increased risk, as …
