Koffie verlaagt risico op leverkanker.*

Koffie drinken zou toch ook nog goed kunnen zijn. Uit een grote studie in Japan blijkt dat mensen die regelmatig koffie drinken wel 50% minder kans hebben op leverkanker. Of ook deca dit effect geeft is niet onderzocht. Uit eerder onderzoek is wel gebleken dat deca minder kans op darmkanker geeft, terwijl gewone koffie dat niet zou doen. Het grootste risico op leverkanker is trouwens hepatitis.

Coffee may reduce liver cancer risk

DRINKING coffee might have at least one health benefit: reducing your risk of liver cancer.

A team led by Manami Inoue of the National Cancer Center in Tokyo analysed a 10-year study of 90,000 people in Japan. They found that middle-aged and elderly people who drank coffee daily had half the rate of a common liver cancer compared with less frequent consumers (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, vol 97, p 293). And the more coffee people drank, the lower the risk. It is not clear if decaffeinated coffee has the same effect, as few people in the study drank it. "There is caffeine and antioxidants in coffee. Maybe both or either are protective," says Inoue.

Meanwhile, a large US study found no association between drinking caffeinated tea and coffee and the incidence of colon or rectal cancer (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, vol 97, p 282). But people who drank decaf had less rectal cancer - perhaps because they lead a healthier lives, suggest the researchers.

Despite their ubiquity, the long-term effects of coffee, tea and caffeine remain uncertain (New Scientist, 29 January 2000, p 30). Inoue says people certainly should not change their drinking habits on the basis of her study alone. When it comes to liver cancer, it's more important to be screened for hepatitis, she says. "That is the biggest risk factor."

From issue 2488 of New Scientist magazine, 2005, page 21 (Maart 2005)

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