Linda and her Mom, 1980
The NCI Cancer Bulletin is filled with gems of wisdom, interesting curiosities, and useful facts. The current issue (May 29) has another exchange of fire in the prostate cancer PSA wars, in which the Feds, in the guise of the USPSTF squares off once again with the hands-on docs, represented this time by the AUA – the American Urology Association. I’m tired of commenting on this endless debate – if you are so inclined, go read the article yourself.
Of greater interest is a massive study concerning the effect of coffee on health. Researchers from the NCI followed 402,260 men and women for varying periods of up to 13 years. They conclude that the drinking of coffee cuts death rates from a host of conditions: heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, diabetes and infections – but, unfortunately, not cancer. Moreover, the more coffee you drink, the more the benefit. Coffee-drinking also reduces the chance of death from injuries and accidents - which you would expect since most coffee consumption is done while sitting down, which is a pretty safe place to spend time. It turns out, though, that the raw numbers show that coffee-drinkers die EARLY, not late. This, ostensibly, is because much drinking of coffee occurs while smoking. Only after ”controlling” for smoking does the drinking of coffee appear beneficial. No wonder that every cancer lab seems to have a statistician on staff.
The final paragraph of this article raises the question: Cause-and-effect, or merely “associational? That is: Maybe something in coffee is actually good for you, or, Maybe coffee drinkers tend to do something healthy that non-drinkers don’t do. What might that be?
Now I'm going down to the cantina for another cup.
Yay! Nice that I'm doing something that might be beneficial, for a change. I hear that coffee also has a beneficial effect on the brain, but I can't remember exactly what.
ReplyDeleteIt has a beneficial effect mood, that is for sure.
ReplyDelete