Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Can Coffee Prevent Breast Cancer?
According to a study by the Karolinska institute, Stockholm, women who drink coffee are less likely to develop breast cancer!
The research on nearly 6000 women showed that women who drank over 5 cups of coffee a day halved their risk of the oestrogen-receptor negative (also the most aggressive) form of Breast Cancer. As many drug treatments have no affect on it, the cancer usually entails intense chemotherapy, so any advance in this area of research is sure to be explored further. For now, however, the researchers are unsure as to why the coffee may be a risk reduction factor - according to a scientist 'There are so many different compounds in coffee that it could be any one of them that could be having an effect'.
However, the idea that by drinking a few extra Lattes we could prevent ourselves from getting Cancer does seem a bit too good to be true. According to Yinka Ebo of Cancer Research UK "This study does not provide firm evidence that drinking lots of coffee can help reduce the risk of breast cancer as it relied on people with cancer remembering how much coffee they drank years ago". Clearly there is no concrete evidence behind this study as of yet. It is also mentioned that the risks of getting the cancer can vary depending on weight, amount of exercise, menopause, family history of Breast Cancer and alcohol consumption.
I am also reserved as to how healthy drinking extra Coffee would be to other areas of our health. It is also speculated that too much Coffee can have detrimental effects on your heart and cholesterol levels, as well as affecting how well you sleep.
So although the research is still very much in it's early stages I think the implications of it, providing more reliable evidence is found, could have a really positive effect; Finding a prevention for this violent strain of Breast cancer would undoubtedly save many lives.
Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13352074
http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=130&a=122245&l=sv&newsdep=130 (sorry, I know it's in Swedish but it had some useful bits which were not included in the English translation...)
http://hubpages.com/hub/coffee-pros-cons
The research on nearly 6000 women showed that women who drank over 5 cups of coffee a day halved their risk of the oestrogen-receptor negative (also the most aggressive) form of Breast Cancer. As many drug treatments have no affect on it, the cancer usually entails intense chemotherapy, so any advance in this area of research is sure to be explored further. For now, however, the researchers are unsure as to why the coffee may be a risk reduction factor - according to a scientist 'There are so many different compounds in coffee that it could be any one of them that could be having an effect'.
However, the idea that by drinking a few extra Lattes we could prevent ourselves from getting Cancer does seem a bit too good to be true. According to Yinka Ebo of Cancer Research UK "This study does not provide firm evidence that drinking lots of coffee can help reduce the risk of breast cancer as it relied on people with cancer remembering how much coffee they drank years ago". Clearly there is no concrete evidence behind this study as of yet. It is also mentioned that the risks of getting the cancer can vary depending on weight, amount of exercise, menopause, family history of Breast Cancer and alcohol consumption.
I am also reserved as to how healthy drinking extra Coffee would be to other areas of our health. It is also speculated that too much Coffee can have detrimental effects on your heart and cholesterol levels, as well as affecting how well you sleep.
So although the research is still very much in it's early stages I think the implications of it, providing more reliable evidence is found, could have a really positive effect; Finding a prevention for this violent strain of Breast cancer would undoubtedly save many lives.
Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13352074
http://ki.se/ki/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=130&a=122245&l=sv&newsdep=130 (sorry, I know it's in Swedish but it had some useful bits which were not included in the English translation...)
http://hubpages.com/hub/coffee-pros-cons
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Getting Started...
Ok, so basically...
- My name is Emily and I'm 17 years old. I am studying the International Baccalaureate and am in my first year.
- I would really love to study medicine at university
- I've set up this blog to keep track of current medical advances and log what I am doing to give myself a better chance of getting into medical school
So I'm going to see how this goes, and hopefully keep myself up to date on current issues/events/developments...
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