saturday 28, july friday 3, august issue 197 2012 - pvmcitypaper

Health Matters 13
Great news for coffee lovers -
and manufacturers - it seems.
Researchers have claimed that a
cup of coffee a day can help keep
skin cancer at bay. A new report
found that increasing the number
of cups of caffeinated coffee you
drink could lower your risk of
developing the most common
form of skin cancer, basal cell
carcinoma.
The breakthrough finding was
announced by doctors at the
prestigious Brigham and Women’s
Hospital in the United States,
where researchers analysed two
major data studies on male and
Coffee
drinking may help avoid skin cancer
female health going back a decade.
‘Our data indicate that the more
caffeinated coffee you consume,
the lower your risk of developing
basal cell carcinoma. ‘I would not
recommend increasing your coffee
intake based on these data alone,’
said one of the hospital’s associate
professors, Doctor Jiali Han.
‘However, our results add
basal cell carcinoma to a list
of conditions for which risk is
decreased with increasing coffee
consumption. This list includes
conditions with serious negative
health consequences such as type 2
diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.’
Despite the fact that basal cell
carcinoma is a slow-growing form
of cancer, it is painful and places a
burden on hospitals. For instance,
there are an estimated 80,000 new
cases in the UK every year. So
dietary changes that can help avoid
cancer are hugely welcome news.
‘Given the large number of newly
diagnosed cases, daily dietary
changes having any protective
effect may have an impact on
public health,’ Dr Han said.
Han and his colleagues analysed
data from two major studies: the
Nurses’ Health Study, a large
investigation of factors influencing
women’s health, and the Health
Professionals Follow-up Study, a
study of men, both of which have
been running for twenty years.
Of the 112,897 participants,
22,786 developed basal cell
carcinoma during the more than
20 years of the two studies. An
inverse association was observed
between all coffee consumption
and risk of basal cell carcinoma.
The same thing was seen when
the analysis looked at caffeine
derived from coffee, tea, cola and
chocolate - and risk of basal cell
carcinoma. Interestingly, however,
drinking decaffeinated coffee was
not associated with a decreased
risk of basal cell carcinoma.
Dr Han said: ‘These results
really suggest that it is the caffeine
in coffee that is responsible
for the decreased risk of basal
cell carcinoma associated with
increasing coffee consumption.
This would be consistent with
published mouse data, which
indicate caffeine can block skin
tumour formation. However, more
studies in different population
cohorts and additional mechanistic
studies will be needed before we
can say this definitively.’
The findings were published in
the journal Cancer Research.
(Source: James Johnston -
my-health-world.com)
SATURDAY 28, JULY
2012 FRIDAY 3, AUGUST