- ALLERGY, RESPIRATORY
- Air Pollution May Raise Blood Pressure
- Overweight Moms More Likely to Have Asthmatic Kids
- New Spray Could Benefit Cystic Fibrosis Patients
- ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
- Acupuncture Eases Breast Cancer Treatment Side Effects
- No Verdict Yet on Grape Seed Extract vs. Breast Cancer
- Pharoah's Wine Jar Yields Medicinal Secrets
- ANIMAL CARE
- Animals Respond to Acupuncture's Healing Touch
- Rest Easy. When It Comes to Swine Flu, Your Pet Is Safe
- Separation Anxiety, Canine-Style
- BONES & JOINTS
- Are We Exercising Pain Away? Not So Much.
- Stem Cells Might Treat Tough Fractures
- Improved Hip Implants Can Last 20 Years
- CANCER
- Supplement Hampers Thyroid Cancer Treatment
- No Verdict Yet on Grape Seed Extract vs. Breast Cancer
- Many Cancer Patients Turn to Complementary Medicine
- CAREGIVING
- Birthmark or Blood Vessel Problem?
- Memory Loss Help from Brain Supplement Prevagen
- Many Hospital Patients Can't ID Their Doctors
- CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
- Secondhand Smoke Quickly Affects Blood Vessels
- Health Tip: Are You Anemic?
- Exercise Extends Life of Kidney Patients
- COSMETIC
- Get Sugared!.... Its a sweet choice for hair removal
- Wrinkle Fillers Need Better Label Warnings: FDA Panel
- The Acne Drug Accutane More Than Doubles Depression Risk
- DENTAL, ORAL
- Gum Care Helps Control Type 2 Diabetes and Its Complications
- Obesity Boosts Gum Disease Risk
- An Oral Approach to Heart Disease
- DIABETES
- 24 Million Americans Had Diabetes in 2007
- Drug May Not Help Diabetes-Related Eye Damage
- Red-Grape Compound May Improve Diabetes
- DIET, NUTRITION
- Heart Disease May Be Prevented By Taking Fish Oils, Study Shows
- Fruit Even Healthier Than Thought: Study Shows
- Compound in Red Wine Fights Ravages of Age
- DISABILITIES
- Review Finds Marijuana May Help MS Patients
- Could Your Cell Phone Help Shield You From Alzheimer's?
- ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
- Bed Bugs Bring No Disease Danger
- Rainy Areas in U.S. Show Higher Autism Rates
- Climate Change Linked to Longer Pollen Seasons
- EYE CARE, VISION
- Time Teaches Brain to Recognize Objects
- Poor Night Vision May Predict Age-Related Eye Disease
- Kids Think Glasses Make Others Look Smart, Honest
- FITNESS
- Exercise May Prevent Prostate Cancer: Study Shows
- Run for Your Life
- Good Warm-Ups Could Halve Sports Injuries
- GASTROINTESTINAL PROBLEMS
- Traditional Nonsurgical GERD Treatments Not Impressive
- Japanese Herbals May Ease Gastro Woes
- Soothing Imagery May Help Rid Some Kids of Stomach Pain
- GENERAL HEALTH
- It Pays to Eat Less as You Age
- Sleep and Do Better
- Fructose Boosts Blood Pressure, Studies Find
- HEAD & NECK
- Zen May Thicken Brain, Thwart Pain
- Ski Helmets Encouraged for All
- Many Children Will Outgrow Headaches
- HEALTH & TECHNOLOGY
- Using Light Therapy to Silence Harmful Brain Activity
- 'Comfort Dogs' Come to Emotional Rescue
- E-Mailing Your Way to Healthier Habits
- HEART & CARDIOVASCULAR
- B-Vitamins Help Protect Against Stroke, Heart Disease
- Toothbrushing May Stave Off Heart Woes
- Walk Long, Slow and Often to Help the Heart
- INFECTIOUS DISEASE
- Swine Flu Loves a Crowd
- Surgical Masks Could Prevent Flu, Maybe
- Swine Flu Now Reported in All 50 States
- KID'S HEALTH
- Pool Chemicals Raise Kids Allergy, Asthma Risk
- When It Comes to Toys, Shop Smart, Shop Safe
- Health Tip: Back Pain in Children
- MEN'S HEALTH
- Soy Linked to Low Sperm Count
- Eating Fast Until Full Triples Overweight Risk
- Low Iron Levels Cut Cancer Risk in Men With PAD
- MENTAL HEALTH
- Consciousness Helps the Mind and Body Work Together
- Estrogen May Help Men's Hearts
- Green Spaces Boost the Body and the Mind
- PREGNANCY
- Calcium Supplements Cut Blood Lead Levels During Pregnancy
- Before Conceiving, Take Folic Acid for One Full Year
- Yoga's Benefits Outweigh Risks for Pregnant Women
- SENIORS
- Nighttime Urination Linked to Higher Death Rate Among Elderly
- Boost In Elderly Population Will Be Felt Worldwide
- Common Antioxidant Might Slow Parkinson's
Caffeine May Offer Some Skin Cancer Protection
By eHolistic.com Published: 02/26/2009
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Past studies have suggested that caffeine might offer some protection from skin cancer, and new research may explain why.
"We have found what we believe to be the mechanism by which caffeine is associated with decreased skin cancer," said lead researcher Dr. Paul Nghiem, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of Washington in Seattle.
For the study, Nghiem's team looked at caffeine's effect on human skin cells in a laboratory that had been exposed to ultraviolet radiation. They found that in cells damaged by UV rays, caffeine interrupted a protein called ATR-Chk1, causing the damaged cells to self-destruct.
"Caffeine has no effect on undamaged cells," Nghiem said.
ATR is essential to damaged cells that are growing rapidly, Nghiem said, and caffeine specifically targets damaged cells that can become cancerous. "Caffeine more than doubles the number of damaged cells that will die normally after a given dose of UV," he said.
"This is a biological mechanism that explains what we have been seeing for many years from the oral intake of caffeine," he added.
The findings were published online Feb. 26 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
But, Nghiem added, people shouldn't increase the amount of coffee or tea they drink to prevent skin cancer. "You are talking a lot of cups for a lot of years for a relatively small effect," he said. "But if you like it, it's another reason to drink it."
Nghiem has also been experimenting with applying caffeine directly to the skin. "It suppresses skin cancer development by as much as 72 percent in mice, and human studies are moving ahead slowly," he said.
It's possible that topical caffeine preparations might one day be used to help prevent skin cancer, Nghiem said. "Caffeine is both a sunscreen and it deletes damaged cells," he said. "It may well make sense to put it into a sunscreen preparation."
Dr. Robin Ashinoff, a dermatologist and clinical associate professor of dermatology at New York University's Langone Medical Center, thinks these findings need to be verified before they can have any clinical application.
"This study tells me that caffeine may be a useful ingredient topically to remove ultraviolet-genetically damaged cells from reproducing," Ashinoff said. "This may help prevent the development of skin cancer."
"It is interesting that caffeine, which is thought to have a negative connotation, has already been shown to be associated with lower incidences of non-melanoma skin cancers in several epidemiological studies," she added.
Dr. Albert Lefkovits, a spokesman for the Skin Cancer Foundation and an associate clinical professor of dermatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, doesn't think it's been proven that caffeine reduces the risk of skin cancer.
"While this is an interesting concept that has been explored before, it will take years of extensive testing to determine whether this will be a worthwhile prevention method," Lefkovits said.
"And, the study doesn't discuss how much caffeine would be needed for any real benefit," he said. "For instance, many people drink large amounts of caffeine on a daily basis and still get skin cancer. Protecting yourself from the sun is currently the only proven way to prevent skin cancer."
More information
To learn more about skin cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.
SOURCES: Paul Nghiem, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of dermatology, University of Washington, Seattle; Robin Ashinoff, M.D., dermatologist and clinical associate professor, dermatology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York City; Albert Lefkovits, M.D., spokesman, the Skin Cancer Foundation, and associate clinical professor of dermatology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City; February 2009, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, online
Last Updated: Feb. 26, 2009
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