Coffee drinking provides more benefits than harm

An article published in The BMJ reviewed 201 meta-analyses of observational research and 17 meta-analyses of interventional research and found that coffee consumption was more often associated with benefits than harm.

The researchers found that drinking three cups of coffee a day was associated with the greatest benefit in terms of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke, when compared with not drinking coffee. Consumption at this level was associated with a 19% lower risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease, a 16% lower risk of mortality from coronary heart disease, and a 30% lower risk of stroke mortality.

Increasing consumption to more than three cups a day was not associated with harm, but the beneficial effects were less pronounced. Women seemed to benefit more from greater coffee consumption than men in terms of reduced risk of coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease mortality, but less so in stroke mortality.

Review of the studies showed that coffee drinkers had lower incidence of cancer. High consumption of coffee was associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer, endometrial cancer, melanoma, oral cancer, leukemia, non-melanoma skin cancer, and liver cancer.

Coffee consumption also seemed to have a beneficial effect on gastrointestinal system. Coffee drinkers had a 29% lower risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver, a 27% lower risk of liver fibrosis, and a 39% lower risk of liver cirrhosis.

The picture was mixed for consumption of coffee in pregnancy. High versus low consumption was associated with a higher risk of low birth weight and pregnancy loss.  No significant association, however, was found between any category of coffee consumption and third trimester preterm birth, neural tube defects, and congenital malformations of the oral cleft or cardiovascular system.

High versus low consumption of coffee was also associated with an increased risk of fracture in women but a decreased risk in men.

In conclusion moderate coffee consumption seems safe, and it can be incorporated as part of a healthy lifestyle by most of the adults.

Cancer Death Rate Has Declined in the US

In 2018, 1,735,350 new cancer cases and 609,640 cancer deaths are projected by the American Cancer Society (ACS) to occur in the United States.

Over the past decade (2005-2014), the cancer incidence rate was stable in women and declined by approximately 2% annually in men, while the cancer death rate (2006-2015) declined by about 1.5% annually in both men and women.

This decrease means that more than 2.3 million people have not died of cancer since 1991, which would otherwise have if the cancer rates had remained unchanged.

One of the biggest reasons behind this decline is the reduction in smoking.  Although lung cancer remains a leading cause of cancer death, death rates have dropped by 45% among men from 1990 to 2015 and by 19% among women from 2002 to 2015.

In the mid-1990s, the American Cancer Society Board of Directors made as a goal to cut the U.S. cancer mortality rate in half by the year 2015.  Though the goal of a 50% reduction has not been achieved the cancer death rate has been reduced and hopefully this trend will continue.

Unhealthy lifestyle linked to nearly half of US cancer deaths

A study by Islami et al was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians suggests nearly half of cancer deaths in the US are caused by smoking, poor diet and other unhealthy habits.

The investigators analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute.  They calculated how many of cancer cases and deaths can be attributed to factors that people can change.  They found that among more than 1.5 million cancers in 2014, 42% of the cancers (659,640 of 1,570,975) and 45% of deaths (265,150 of 587,521) in 2014 were traced to modifiable habits mentioned above.

Specifically smoking was associated with more cancer cases and deaths than any other single risk factor, accounting for nearly 20 percent of all cancer cases and 30 percent of all cancer deaths, followed by excess body weight which caused 7.8% of cases and 6.5%, of deaths. The data also indicated that excessive alcohol drinking causes 5.6 of cancer cases and 4 percent of deaths.  Lung cancer had the highest number of cancers (184,970 cases and 132,960 deaths), followed by colorectal cancer (76,910 cases and 28,290 deaths).

The authors suggest a vast potential for reducing cancer morbidity and mortality through lifestyle changes such as decreases in smoking; secondhand smoke; excess body weight; alcohol intake; consumption of red and processed meat an increased consumption of fruits/vegetables, dietary fiber; physical activity and decrease exposure to ultraviolet radiation; and cancer-associated infections.