A Link Between Coffee And Lung Cancer

[Robert F. Smith]

Yasemin Saplakoglu, "There May Be a Link Between Coffee and Lung Cancer, Study Suggests," LiveScience, April 3, 2019, online at https://www.livescience.com/65136-coffee-lung-cancer.html .

Quote

ATLANTA — Drinking coffee has been linked to a slew of health benefits, such as a longer life span, and a decreased risk of conditions including depression, heart attacks and certain cancers.

But a new study suggests that there may be a downside to your morning brew: Researchers found that drinking two or more cups of coffee or tea may increase a person's risk of lung cancer.

The findings were presented on March 31, here at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Of note, the link was even true for nonsmokers. Because people who smoke cigarettes are also more likely to drink coffee and tea, it was difficult in previous studies to disentangle the effects of these drinks from those of smoking, in developing lung cancer, said lead study author Jingjing Zhu, a Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.

In the new study, an international group of researchers analyzed data from 17 different studies that included a total of 1.2 million participants in the U.S. and Asia. The studies noted whether participants drank coffee or tea or smoked cigarettes. About half were nonsmokers.

The participants were tracked for an average of 8.6 years. During that time, more than 20,500 participants developed lung cancer.

The researchers found that nonsmokers who drank two or more cups of coffee a day had a 41 percent higher risk of lung cancer than those who didn't drink coffee. Similarly, nonsmokers who drank two or more cups of tea a day had a 37 percent greater risk of lung cancer than non-tea drinkers. (Because data was taken from multiple studies, the exact definition of a cup varied.) 

The study also found that a person's risk didn't change significantly between ages, races or the type of coffee people drank — both decaf and caffeinated coffee seemed to be associated with similar risks. In fact, decaf coffee was associated with a 15 percent higher risk than caffeinated coffee, Zhu said.

 

[The Nehor]

Long life is overrated.

[snowflake]

Oh that dreaded coffee.....almost as dangerous as eggs. 

[rpn]

The stuff I'm reading says it is the temperature that is causing the cancers, not the substance.

[Calm]

2 hours ago, rpn said:

The stuff I'm reading says it is the temperature that is causing the cancers, not the substance.

Likely if tea was getting same results 

[Gray]

16 hours ago, rpn said:

The stuff I'm reading says it is the temperature that is causing the cancers, not the substance.

Maybe it was "hot drinks" all along and not coffee/tea

[MustardSeed]

I would also want to know of second hand smoke, from which two people close to me died of lung cancer.  

I am not buying into this study. Nor do I trust the benefits studies.  

[Calm]

38 minutes ago, MustardSeed said:

 

I am not buying into this study.

What in particular is problematic in your view?

[MustardSeed]

3 minutes ago, Calm said:

What in particular is problematic in your view?

Having done a pretty lame study myself on the link between eating disorders and family secrets, which showed a big dumb link, I tend to be admittedly skeptical of some studies. 

[Calm]

Methodology is important, this one looks pretty good in my view:

https://www.sciencealert.com/drinking-your-tea-hot-nudges-up-your-risk-of-cancer-now-we-know-what-that-means

[MustardSeed]

8 minutes ago, Calm said:

Methodology is important, this one looks pretty good in my view:

https://www.sciencealert.com/drinking-your-tea-hot-nudges-up-your-risk-of-cancer-now-we-know-what-that-means

Now that makes sense.  Depending of course on temp. But yes. Constant scarring logically sounds dangerous. 

[Jean-Luc Picard]

On 4/4/2019 at 2:43 PM, snowflake said:

Oh that dreaded coffee.....almost as dangerous as eggs. 

Yes yes 😅

[The Nehor]

On 4/5/2019 at 8:29 AM, Gray said:

Maybe it was "hot drinks" all along and not coffee/tea

So I have to give up my diabetes shakes.

They are a mixture of whole milk, white chocolate cocoa, caramel, and blue bell vanilla ice cream. They are delicious........

[Kenngo1969]

On 4/4/2019 at 2:38 PM, The Nehor said:

Long life is overrated.

I hear ya.

I'm not going to do anything drastic, but if, tomorrow, I find out I have some horrible disease ...

[longview]

On 4/4/2019 at 2:53 PM, rpn said:

The stuff I'm reading says it is the temperature that is causing the cancers, not the substance.

Hot temperatures can affect the esophagus and the stomach.  Why would it affect the lungs?  If the coffee or tea were to go into the lungs, you would gag or drown.  What if it is the aroma of the brews that can be inhaled?  Kind of like breathing reefer smokes, cigs or vapes?

[MustardSeed]

16 hours ago, longview said:

Hot temperatures can affect the esophagus and the stomach.  Why would it affect the lungs?  If the coffee or tea were to go into the lungs, you would gag or drown.  What if it is the aroma of the brews that can be inhaled?  Kind of like breathing reefer smokes, cigs or vapes?

This was my point earlier. 

If aroma caused cancer I’m pretty sure there would be many others that did the same.  I just don’t see it as likely. 

[Calm]

I wonder if damaged cells in one part of the body could release chemicals that cause mutations elsewhere.

I will have to ask my oncologist relative next time I see him what might be going on.  Might be July though...so no guarantees I will remember.

add-on:  I wonder if they didn't differentiate between cancer that ends up damaging the lungs (could have started as cancer of mouth or throat) and cancer that starts in the lung (usually what is called lung cancer).  I would assume nearby cancers would often move into the lungs.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Calm