3 cups of coffee a day keep the doctor away, studies say

Coffee addicts and aficionados often say drinking the bitter liquid makes life worth living, but the habit may also help them live longer, according to two major international studies Monday.

Experts cautioned, however, that the US and European reports, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, failed to show that coffee was truly the reason that many drinkers appeared to have longer lives.

Rather, the studies were observational in nature, meaning they showed an association between coffee-drinking and a propensity toward longevity, but stopped short of proving cause and effect.

The first study, led by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and Imperial College London, examined more than half a million people across 10 countries in Europe.

Those who drank about three cups a day tended to live longer than non-coffee drinkers, said the study, which researchers described as the largest analysis of the effects of coffee-drinking in a European population.

"We found that higher coffee consumption was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause, and specifically for circulatory diseases, and digestive diseases," said lead author Marc Gunter of the IARC, formerly at Imperial's School of Public Health.

"Importantly, these results were similar across all of the 10 European countries, with variable coffee drinking habits and customs."

The second study included more than 180,000 participants of various ethnic backgrounds in the United States.

It found benefits to longevity whether the coffee was caffeinated or decaffeinated.

Coffee drinkers had a lower risk of death due to heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and respiratory and kidney disease.

Those who drank one cup a day were 12 percent less likely to die compared to those who didn't drink coffee.

Those who drank two or three cups per day saw an even higher 18 percent reduced risk of death.

"We cannot say drinking coffee will prolong your life, but we see an association," said lead author Veronica Setiawan, an associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California.

"If you like to drink coffee, drink up! If you're not a coffee drinker, then you need to consider if you should start."

A revered drink

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. Some 2.25 billion cups are consumed every day.

Many prior studies have hailed the benefits of coffee-drinking, saying the beverage imparts anti-oxidants, may improve liver function and reduce inflammation.

But coffee may carry risks for some people, and pregnant woman and children are urged to avoid caffeine, which can be fatal in high doses.

A report from the IARC last year that said drinking very hot beverages -- coffee, tea or otherwise -- is one probable cause of cancer of the esophagus, the tube that runs from the throat to the stomach.

Experts urge caution

Experts who were not involved in the latest studies urged caution in interpreting the results.

For instance, the European study excluded people who had cancer, heart disease or diabetes, meaning it took a measure of people over 35 who were already generally healthy.

It also asked about coffee consumption just once, at the beginning, and did not update this figure over the span of the study, which included an average follow-up time of 16 years.

Finally, it found signs of a link between women who drank large amounts of coffee and a higher risk of cancer death, but downplayed this finding, saying it "may be spurious."

The "conclusions will not lead me to start drinking coffee or to recommend people drink more coffee as a way to lessen their risks for heart disease," said Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow.

"I remain unconvinced that the link between coffee and heart disease represents a true cause and effect relationship and that coffee is truly protective, regardless of how large a study suggests this."

Sattar said that one downside to the research is the fact that many people stop drinking coffee -- or drink less of it -- when they are ill, a "bias is very hard to fully overcome."

David Spiegelhalter, a professor at the University of Cambridge, described the research as "huge in size and carefully done," but nevertheless unable to prove cause and effect.

"If these estimated reductions in all-cause mortality really are causal, then an extra cup of coffee every day would on average extend the life of a man by around three months, and a woman by around a month," he added.

"So perhaps we should relax and enjoy it."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Alcohol's cancer toll revealed

PARIS - Alcohol consumption caused more than 700,000 new cancer cases and around 366,000 cancer deaths in 2012, mainly in rich countries, according to data reported Wednesday to the World Cancer Congress in Paris.

Comparing the cancer risk of people who drink, to that of people who do not, researchers calculated that alcohol was responsible for an estimated five percent of all new cancer cases, and 4.5 percent of deaths per year.

"A large part of the population is unaware that cancer can be caused by alcohol," study co-author Kevin Shield of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), told AFP of the preliminary report, not yet published.

Alcohol was most strongly linked to new breast cancer diagnoses -- more than one in four of all alcohol-attributable cancer cases, the researchers found, followed by colorectal cancer at 23 percent.

For breast cancer, particularly, it was clear that "the risk increases with the dose" of alcohol, said Shield.

Measuring alcohol's contribution to cancer deaths, the researchers found it was most strongly linked to oesophagus cancer fatalities, followed by colorectal cancer.

The IARC, the cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), lists alcohol as a "group 1 carcinogen", which means it is considered cancer-causing, though Shield said the mechanism was "not exactly known".

Globally, the burden was highest in North America, Australia and Europe, particularly eastern Europe, but this was slowly changing as people in developing nations start imbibing more, the researchers said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

WHO unit finds 2,4-D herbicide 'possibly' causes cancer in humans

A widely used farm chemical used as a key ingredient in a new herbicide developed by Dow AgroSciences "possibly" causes cancer in humans, a World Health Organization research unit has determined.

The classification of the weed killer, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, known as 2,4-D, was made by the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

The IARC said it reviewed the latest scientific literature and decided to classify 2,4-D as "possibly carcinogenic to humans," a step below the more definitive "probably carcinogenic" category but two steps above the "probably not carcinogenic" category.

IARC's findings on 2,4-D have been awaited by environmental and consumer groups that are lobbying U.S. regulators to tightly restrict the use of 2,4-D, as well as by farm groups and others that defend 2,4-D as an important agent in food production that does not need more restrictions.

In March, IARC said it had found another popular herbicide -glyphosate - was "probably carcinogenic to humans." Glyphosate is the key ingredient in Monsanto Co's Roundup herbicide and other products.

IARC classifications do not carry regulatory requirements but can influence regulators, lawmakers and the public. Following the glyphosate classification, some companies and government officials moved to limit glyphosate use.

Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co, has had a particular interest in IARC's review. The company is using both glyphosate and 2,4-D in a herbicide it calls Enlist Duo that received U.S. approval last year. Enlist Duo is designed to be used with genetically engineered, herbicide-tolerant crops developed by Dow.

Dow had no comment on the IARC classification, but the company has said 2,4-D is a safe and valuable tool for agriculture.

IARC said it decided on the "possibly" classification because there was "inadequate evidence in humans and limited evidence in experimental animals" of ties between 2,4-D and cancer. It said that epidemiological studies provided "strong evidence that 2,4-D induces oxidative stress ... and moderate evidence that 2,4-D causes immunosuppression ..."

However, IARC said, "epidemiological studies did not find strong or consistent increases in risk of NHL (non-Hodgkin lymphoma) or other cancers in relation to 2,4-D exposure."

Dana Loomis, a deputy section head for IARC, said the most important studies reviewed showed mixed results, and a "sizable minority" judged the evidence as stronger than others did.

Among the research presented to IARC was an analysis funded by a Dow-backed task force that found no ties between 2,4-D and many cancers.

Some critics of 2,4-D had thought IARC would assign at least the "probably" cancer-causing classification to 2,4-D. But the Dow-backed task force said there was no reason to do so.

"Not one health and safety regulator in the world consider 2,4-D to be a human carcinogen," the 2,4-D Research Task Force said in a statement.

Since its introduction in 1945, 2,4-D has been widely used to control weeds in agriculture, forestry, and urban and residential settings.

(Reporting by Carey Gillam; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com