E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Featurepics stock
Women and men who drink three cups of coffee a day may have a lower risk of basal cell skin cancer, a new study finds.
By Rachael Rettner
MyHealthNewsDaily
Drinking copious amounts of coffee may reduce the risk of the most common type of skin cancer, a new study finds.
Women in the study who drank more than three cups of coffee a day were 20 percent less likely to develop basal cell carcinoma, a slow-growing form of skin cancer, than those who drank less than one cup a month.
Men in the study who consumed more than three cups of coffee had a 9 percent reduction in their basal cell carcinoma risk.
Drinking coffee did not reduce the risk of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, the study found.
Basal cell carcinomas rarely spread to other parts of the body, and rarely return if they are promptly removed. However, any apparent health benefit that is found to come from our diet is a plus, the researchers say.
"Given the nearly 1 million new cases of [basal cell carcinoma] diagnosed each year in the United States, daily dietary factors with even small protective effects may have great public health impact," said researcher Fengju Song, a dermatologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
The study found an association, not a direct cause-effect link. Further research is needed to confirm the findings and investigate how coffee may act to reduce skin cancer risk.
Previous studies in animals had suggested a link between caffeine consumption and a reduced risk of skin cancer, but studies in people had not been conclusive.
Song and colleagues analyzed data from 112,897 people who were followed from 1984 to June 2008. Over this period, 25,480 cases of skin cancer were documented.
Both coffee and caffeine consumption were linked with a reduced risk of basal cell carcinoma. Decaffeinated coffee was not associated with a reduced risk of skin cancer.
Study participants were in the health care field and may have had better habits than the average person, the study said.
Coffee consumption has also been found to reduce the risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer and cancer overall. "To the best of our knowledge, coffee consumption is a healthy habit," Song said.
Caffeine in coffee may act to reduce the risk of skin cancer. Studies in animals have suggested that caffeine promotes the elimination of skin cells damaged by ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
The biggest risk factor for skin cancer is exposure to UV radiation, usually from the sun. So protective measures such as applying sunscreen are more important than your daily latte, according to the study.
The study was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Boston. It has not been published in a scientific journal.
Leave a Comment:
Yay Coffee!
Yay coffee indeed, though not because of this study. The media needs to quit presenting statistical trickery as some form of medical findings. Did you know that research has shown a positive correlation between the sale of ice cream and murder rates? If the article doesn't include any kind of medical link between components in coffee and cancer cells or the blocking of UV rays then the study is just anecdotal.
It's more than likely given the fact that it's a good amount of coffee for not that much of a reduction in the cancer rates, that the link between the two are night owls or people who otherwise end up spending their waking time not in the sun--thus needing coffee and limiting their exposure to UV rays.
Feel free to keep drinking coffee, I know I will, but I'm not going to have it replace my sunscreen anytime soon. Survey based statistical research should only be used to help direct where more active medical research should take place, and should NOT be presented to the public as the end result.
"Drinking coffee did not reduce the risk of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, the study found."
^So then, why would I care? Basal cell skin cancer is curable...melanoma can be DEADLY if not caught early.
*Get your "full body checks" yearly by a Board Certified dermatologist and check your skin monthly for Asymetrical moles, fuzzy Borders, changes in Color and Diameter...ABCD's of skin cancer.
Since I help keep Juan Valdez in business by drinking copious amounts of coffee each day, I find this study to be great news. I just don't want to read the next study out in a few months or years to say that coffee causes Alzheimer's or something worse.
Actually, drinking coffee decreases the risk of Alzheimer's. MSNBC wrote about it before http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/29/6968218-coffee-buzz-protects-brain-from-alzheimers
Of course, the reliability of these studies are up in the air.
*asymmetrical* lol
When is coffee going to come down in price? Geesh!
Its not-because clearly, all these studies are quickly establishing it as a pharmaceutical. Pretty soon the FDA is going to regulate it and you'll need a perscription to partake. Medicinal caffeine...wheeee!!
Maybe people who drink 3 cups of coffee per day tend to drink less milk, and milk consumption increases the risk of skin cancer.
You all can drink up if you like but until the correlation is identified you're probably spinning your wheels...and getting all amped up on caffeine for no reason.
Milk increases risk of skin cancer? Where did you read this?
I made it up to illustrate the critical point that correlation is not causation.
Milk consumption is as highly correlated to colon cancer as cigarette smoking is to lung cancer, so maybe that's where the hypothetical came from.
The point was that it could just as easily be coffee as it could be something else that relates to or is influenced by coffee consumption.
OK, will do.
Agreed. A more likely explanation would be that people tend to drink coffee when they are inside. And they usually don't drink 3 cups in a row so someone who drinks 3 cups of coffee a day is likely to be someone who spends a lot of time inside. Reduced sun exposure could explain the lowered incidence of cancer.
Not buying it. I had a squamous cell carcinoma removed last year, and Thursday I have the pleasure of having a basal cell carcinoma removed. (on my left temple no less!) Don't mind the procedure, it's the damned shot that hurts. LOL
I LOVE my coffee, btw.
>Milk consumption is as highly correlated to colon cancer as cigarette smoking is to lung cancer
Total bull. Cite sources please.
I drink 4-6 cups of coffee every day for almost 50 years, and I got skin cancer (removed by surgery). Didn't work for me!
I am right there with you, Ed. Before I retired, I counted my coffee consumption in numbers of 8 cup pots I made/drank per day. After I retired, the basal cell carcinoma made its presence known. Regardless, I have outlived both of my parents' life spans. I don't know what it is I am doing right.
Could have.
Without the coffee you might have had more.
I hear tell that fartin' will reduce gas pains and no grant money was necessary.
well said, your comment explain everything.
What ever happened to that disease of old age causing your death? I'm 71 now, how many more years do I need, to be marked as dying of old age? I'm scare to tell my doctor how much coffee I'm drinking. Scared my marker might say: He died from 2 cups of coffee over his limit.
All I know is that if a doctor ever tells me I have to cut out the coffee, there's going to be trouble!
Well, age is definitely the cause of being old. Scientists have shown a direct causal link between how many years you have lived, and how old you are. Don't let any of these new-age, herbal remedy folks tell you different.
I drink a LOT of coffee. I'm 68, guess you'all be putting up with my absurd remarks for years to come!
...on a related note, researchers have found that drinking more than 2 cups of coffee per day doubles the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Just kidding, but I assume you get my point.
The funny thng is there was a study released a couple of months ago that show 6 cups a day appears to ward off Alzheimers. The general rule seems to be to drink 6 cups of coffee a day black, eat 4 oz of dark chocolate - as bitter as you can stand, drink 6 oz of red wine a day and take a baby asperin every day. This 3 things will help prevent heart attacks, cancer, Alzheimers and more...though you can still might have them all if you insist on eating 2 pounds of bacon every day, try not to do more than a pound of that a day. ;-)
The good thing for me is that most of these things I already would do anyway - and I would not listen if the doctor said no coffee, no chocolate, no wine, though the asperin I ned to remember to take.
If you're drinking 6 cups of coffee a day, I hope you're putting something else in your stomach with it! I'd be more concerned about what that's doing to your guts than whether or not being amped up on caffeine keeps your mind sharp.
If its true it is good news for coffee drinkers but it probably is just another study funded by the coffee industry. It certainly is no reason to start drinking coffee if you are not already. Instead get the benefits with supplements at your health food store and skip the other downside of a coffee addiction.
I just love these studies on things people like to do and companies like to make money on. Alcohol is another one. Clearly alcohol is a poison and something the body does not need but then comes the studies that make it good for something, giving people the idea that it is good for you.
Anybody buzzed and jittery? But you won't get skin cancer!
Today it keeps the cancer away, tomorrow it will do something else, the day after something else depending of the media propaganda, it is just like all the rest. don't believe in this crap.
No way, my mother has had so much removed by Burning(on scalp) she now has to have it scaped, fifteen times. Now, 87 yrs old. She for 45 years drank four to six cups aday. No, I don't agree with these findings.
While I agree with the posters who say that a correlation is not a causation, and therefore the amount of coffee consumed may not be the key but rather some other trait commonly found among people who drik lots of coffee, you also have to understand statistics. A study such as this is MEANINGLESS at the individual level. It only shows significance when observed in aggregate. Say 10% of people get basal cell cancer (I'm making that number up). Now, say only 5% of heavy coffee drinkers get basal cell cancer. 50% reduction in cancers. But still, 5% of people WOULD GET CANCER, and therefore your mother could have been in that 5%. Statistically it LOWERS YOUR CHANCE - it does not guarantee that you will be one of the lucky ones who dodges the bullet. A sample of one means nothing. A sample of a few hundred - may be worth further study. Repeatable samples of thousands - or tens of thousands - now those can be meaningful.
More junk science. "The boy who cried wolf", when they really need to get our attention no one will listen.
Hmm, that's a good point, and a little scary!
Hmmmmm...The rich and famous do coffee enemas. I wonder if this prevents colon cancer. Yuck...I'm not going to find out.
mmm coffee enemas. I wonder, do they use Folger's crystals, or the good stuff?
Jesus I can't believe NBC publishes this kind of garbage. Shame on you!
Why are you telling Jesus about it?
Same here. Drink at least that much coffee. Avoid the sun like the plauge... wear sunglasses (because I'm all but blind outside w/out them) and bathe in sunscreen (which can't be healthy, really) At 35 yrs old basal cell carcinoma on my left tear duct. Yeah, it's the least invasive but still a little scary when it has a straight, unimpeded path to the brain.
I wouldn't stress it too much. It's easily removed, usually an office procedure. A snip and a clip, some stitches, and you're good to go if the surrounding tissue taken with it shows no cancer cells. The numbing part is what I don't like. Oh yes, I had an injection in those very tender tissues below the lower lid. Gawd, they sting! But that's the worst of it. Just get it taken care of, sooner is better even though it's a very slow growing cancer.
@Kai
Mine was a little bit more stressful than that- by the time the removal was complete I was missing most of the side of my nose, and nearly a third of upper lid...had to have reconstructive surgery the next day to replace the skin and deep tissue that was removed. A lot of people poo-poo basal cell. Mine was also rapidly advancing. It's not always a minor thing. And it's a life long thing- it came back (we're watching it), and I've had numerous biopsies in other areas. This "study" is bunk.
You can't say the study is bunk based on one individual. The study says coffee DECREASES YOUR RISK - not that if you drink coffee it's a guarantee you won't get cancer. It says FEWER people who drink coffee may develop melanomas. There are plenty of smokers out there who never develop lunch cancer - but does that refute the studies that show smoking INCREASES the risk of lung cancer? These types of studies do not make guarantees, and they only apply in the aggregate - not to individuals. You'll never know who MIGHT have developed cancer but didn't - you can only tell in large numbers that there are fewer. Not to say this study might be bunk, but it is NOT bunk just because some heavy coffee drinkers still develop basal cell cancer.
MSNBC couldn't suck more if it tried with this kind of @!$%# journalism. Too many coffee enemas I guess. Are we saying there is no actual news to report? @!$%#ing hell, it's not worth even commenting on. Surely this is the real end of days.
One more thing that caffeine is good for. They should test for the effect in caffeinated soft drinks!
I stopped drinking coffee because of the caffeine. I am glad I came across this article. Now I will not feel bad about drinking my coffee again.
My son told me tonight that I drink too much coffee , now I can tell him I don't want skin cancer !!!!! Thanks !!!
The internet makes tone tough to read at times. Please tell me you're joking.
I started drinking coffee in the morning when I was around 12, two pieces of toast and a cup of coffee was breakfast, lol. Naturally I became addicted and up until six months ago I would fire up Mr. Coffee, fill a quart thermos and I had coffee all day. And, I also had acid reflux and stomach pain. I quit drinking coffee six months ago, acid reflux is gone and no more stomach pain. Now comes a study saying that drinking two cups a day keeps cancer away. Nice to have a choice now, go back to drinking the brew at 70 and risk stomach ulcers or stay away from it and risk cancer, lol. Yeah, I know, there's OTC medication that I can take to alleviate the acid reflux, but, isn't that just masking a problem? If you're doing something that is harming you, hey, stop doing it.
deb-3232690 wrote: "What ever happened to that disease of old age causing your death?" +++++ "Old age" is mostly an excuse. An 80 year old woman told her doctor her left shoulder gave her pain. When he said it was just old age she replied, "My right shoulder is just as old and it doesn't hurt." I think we're at the point where our parts aren't expected to wear out until we're at least approaching 90. My parents were the youngest of large families so I've seen the examples of many uncles, aunts, and cousins and those who didn't smoke tended to live to their late 80's or more. I sure won't buy that I've got an "old age" problem until I'm at least that old.
Are these "more than three cups" the standard 8 oz cups, the 5 oz cups that 4, 8, 10, and 12 "cup" coffee makers make, or the 6 oz cups the instructions on whole bean coffee bags refer to when they say "grind 1 to 2 tbsp of beans for each 6 oz. cup of coffee to be brewed"? And how strong is the coffee. I grind 4 1/2 tbsp of beans for 20 oz. of coffee. Some people grind 6 or more tbsp for that volume. Do those cups include a little milk or half-and-half?