Good news for all you coffee addicts out there!
A recent study involving 113,000 participants over a 20-year
period found that people who drink three or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day
have a 20 percent lower risk of getting basal cell carcinoma than those who don’t
drink caffeinated coffee.
Each year, 2.8 million Americans are diagnosed with skin
cancer. Within that number, basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of
skin cancer.
For researchers and dermatologists alike, this is an
exciting development in skin cancer research. “Caffeine may help the body kill
off damaged skin cells,” said Dr. Josh Zeichner, assistant professor of
dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. "If you get rid of
these cells that are damaged, then they don't have the opportunity to grow and
form cancers."
Overall, researchers identified caffeine as the key
ingredient in reducing a person’s risk of getting basal cell carcinoma; when
participants drank decaffeinated coffee, they did not experience the same
benefits. In addition to coffee, other caffeinated items like soda, tea and
chocolate were also linked to a lower risk of obtaining basal cell carcinoma.
Dr. Zeichner noted this discovery is intriguing, but people
should not immediately go out and drink coffee and soda by the gallons. At this
time, Zeichner and other researchers believe additional research needs to be
conducted on this subject.
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