Coffee, Cancer and Chaos

Trust me, I am a doctor’.  This was a common ‘pick-up’ line when I was young.  A rather ineffective pick-up line I might add.  But while treating my date to a coffee, I never realised that perhaps I was doing something for her health and longevity, something that the medical profession could not do. 

Recent research has shown that coffee (OK so perhaps more than just one cup) is good for your health. researchers from Italy have shown that coffee consumption reduces the risk of liver cancer by about 40%. And some of the results indicate that if you drink three cups a day, the risks are reduced by more than 50%. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that liver cancer is the ninth leading cause of cancer deaths in the US and the third leading cause of death from cancer in the world.  Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form of this cancer and men are approximately three times more likely to develop the disease than women. 

Dr. La Vecchia explains:-  "It remains unclear whether coffee drinking has an additional role in liver cancer prevention. But, in any case, such a role would be limited as compared to what is achievable through the current measures." 

Coffee drinking has been shown to reduce the risks of diabetes, as a report from the National Center for Biotechnology Information shows.  And diabetes is a known risk factor of liver cancer - indeed, the National Cancer Institute cites it as the most common risk factor. 

  In another study which started in the 1990s, researchers asked nearly 180,000 adults of different racial and ethnic backgrounds about their coffee drinking and other lifestyle habits. 

Study participants have now been tracked for as long as 18 years, and researchers have kept tabs on how many have developed hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common kind of liver cancer. So far, 498 study participants have been diagnosed. 

People who said they drank one to three cups of coffee a day had a 29 percent reduced risk of liver cancer compared to those who drank six cups or less each week. 

Beyond liver cancer, studies have suggested that coffee may be tied to reduced risk for head and neck cancers, colorectal cancers, prostrate cancer , and bladder, endometrial, esophageal and pancreatic cancers. 

What researchers don't yet understand is how coffee may ward off cancer. 

But what  of the side effects? 

Before everyone runs off to switch on the kettle, my question is …. Has anyone done the research into the impact of six cups of coffee each day and the ability to get a good night’s sleep?  Is the coffee keeping us up, causing insomnia,  and the lack of sleep contributing to poor judgement and as a result, a greater chance of workplace injury. 

So while possibly preventing some forms of cancer, 6 or more cups of coffee a day could possibly create chaos at work.