Researchers at University of Utah found that regular coffee drinkers who drank more than four cups of coffee a day had a 39 percent decreased risk of two types of head and neck cancer: oral cavity and pharynx cancers. In the study published in the journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, they found however, that coffee did not decrease the risk of laryngeal cancer. Coffee contains over 1,000 different chemical compounds, including cancer-fighting antioxidants, and it’s those antioxidants that may provide a “plausible explanation” for reducing the cancer risk.
However, patients should not take this study as an excuse to increase their coffee intake specifically to counteract known cancer-causing behaviors including smoking, drinking alcohol, and chewing tobacco.
Read a CNN report on this
here.
Reference:
Coffee and Tea Intake and Risk of Head and Neck Cancer: Pooled Analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev, June 22, 2010; 1055-9965.
Interesting article.
ReplyDeleteIs there no risk to drinking coffee?
Hot tea dirinking was emphasized as esophageal carcinoma risk factor formerly by Farhad Islami et al. (Tea drinking habits and oesophageal cancer in a high risk area in northern Iran: population based case-control study - BMJ 2009; 338 doi: 10.1136/bmj.b929)
Hot coffee drinking may have similar risks and it can lead to gastroesophageal reflux disease also.
Greetings.