Coffee protects against prostate cancer

Daily consumption of coffee can reduce prostate cancer risk

18/05/2011

While increased coffee consumption is generally considered harmful to health, several recent studies have highlighted the positive health properties of coffee enjoyment. As part of a comprehensive long-term study involving nearly 50,000 male study participants, US researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston have come to the conclusion that increased coffee consumption significantly reduces the risk of prostate cancer.

Researchers are increasingly discovering positive health effects of coffee consumption. In March, Swedish scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm published a study that found that one cup of coffee per day can significantly reduce the risk of stroke. Now US researchers have discovered another positive attribute of coffee enjoyment: a cup of coffee a day can significantly reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

US researchers discover prostate cancer preventive coffee effect
In the context of their long-term study, US researchers led by Lorelei Mucci from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, have analyzed the medical data of 47,911 men for a possible relationship between coffee consumption and ill health. All study participants were examined medically during the period from 1986 to 2008 every four years and inter alia asked about their coffee consumption. During the study, 5,035 participants contracted prostate cancer, with metastases occurring in 642 cases. Among those who drank at least six cups of coffee daily, the risk of contracting some form of prostate cancer was nearly 20 percent lower than among non-coffee drinkers, the US researchers report in the latest issue of the journal „Journal of the National Cancer Institute“.

30 percent lower prostate cancer risk from a cup of coffee daily
According to US scientists, extreme coffee drinkers have reduced the risk of aggressive prostate cancer with dangerous metastases by as much as 60 percent. But even subjects who drank only one to three cups of coffee daily, were subject to a 30 percent lower risk of deadly prostate cancer diseases, said the US researchers. Why the coffee consumption apparently protects against prostate cancer, the US scientists could not explain yet. The only thing that is certain is that caffeine can not be the reason, explained Lorelei Mucci and colleagues. However, according to the researchers, it was astonishing how clearly the positive effects of coffee enjoyment were confirmed even in the large number of participants in their study.

Effect cause still unclear
So far unclear, whereby the effect is triggered. The caffeine in coffee can not be decisive, the researchers report. Because the consumption of decaffeinated coffee has led to the same result. In addition, coffee drinkers often cultivate a completely unhealthy lifestyle. Among the coffee consumers disproportionately many smokers can be found who are also less active in sports other. These are ways of life that blatantly increase the risk of a variety of cancers. These negative factors and other influences have been taken into account in the expansion of the study, write the scientists. Opposite the news magazine „Mirror online“ Mucci said it was hard to imagine, „that there is something left over that could have triggered this effect. "Further studies now need to review the findings, and researchers are already identifying the individual drugs that inhibit tumor cell growth.

Largest coffee study on risk reduction of prostate cancer
„The average intake of coffee in 1986 was 1.9 cups a day. Men who drank six or more cups a day had a significantly lower risk of prostate cancer compared with abstainers.“ the authors write in the study report. The study was the largest that examined the context of coffee and risk reduction of prostate cancer, stated Mucci. While some forms of cancer remain localized, there are more aggressive variants that spread quickly to other parts of the body and quickly lead to death. Which factors influence the growth of cancerous tumors has not yet been scientifically established, says Kathryn Wilson, co-author of the study. Coffee contains many biologically active compounds, including caffeine and phenolic acids, which act as antioxidants, reduce inflammation and affect glucose metabolism and sex hormones. Those same effects could be involved in the inhibition of malignant cancerous tumors. (Fp)

Also read:
Prostate cancer is said to be partly hereditary
Immune defenses block cancer growth
Infertility indicator of later prostate cancer
Coffee reduces the risk of strokes
Study: Coffee and tea are good for the heart

Image: Simone Hainz