Fight prostate cancer with a cup of joe
Good news for men who enjoy a cup -- or more -- of coffee in the morning: avid coffee drinkers may lower their risk of developing prostate cancer, new research suggests.
Now, don't expect doctors to start prescribing morning lattes. The research is preliminary.
But in a federally-funded study of 50,000 men, those who drank the most coffee had a 60 percent less risk of aggressive prostate cancer than non-coffee drinkers, according to data presented at the American Association of Cancer Research conference taking place in Houston.
Well, why is that?
“Coffee has effects on insulin and glucose metabolism as well as sex hormone levels, all of which play a role in prostate cancer. It was plausible that there may be an association between coffee and prostate cancer,” said study author Kathryn M. Wilson, a postdoctoral fellow at the Channing Laboratory, Harvard Medical School in a statement.
Now, "plausible" doesn't mean there's a cause and effect. But the research is interesting, nonetheless. Researchers found for men who drank one to three cups of coffee a day, the risk was lowered by about 20 percent. Those who drank 4 or 5 cups a day, lowered their risk by 25 percent.
Other prostate cancer research finds something not nearly as surprising, but useful all the same. Research out of the conference finds just 15 minutes of exercise a day can reduce overall prostate cancer mortality.
