Does Coffee Lower Prostate Cancer Risk?

I previously reported on the association of caffeine intake with overactive bladder. But it seems that drinking coffee can lower the risk of prostate cancer. The reasons why are unknown, but it is an interesting finding if true. Kathryn Wilson and her associates analyzed the statistics from the Health Professional Follow-Up Study involving 47,911 US men. This group reported how much coffee they drank on a 4-year interval from 1986 to 2008. During this time there were 5035 cases of prostate cancer in the group and 642 that became metastatic.

Men who drank six or more cups of coffee a day had a 20% reduction in their prostate cancer risk and a 60% of having metastatic prostate cancer. Even drinking 1 to 3 cups a day reduced metastatic risk by 30%. It didn’t matter whether the coffee was caffeinated or not! It is unknown why this is true or what compound causes the improvement, but it is at least an interesting result.

Don’t go out and start drinking coffee just to improve your chances of prostate cancer yet though. This is just one study, based on generic data collection and not designed to show whether it is or isn’t really true. But it certainly adds to my enjoyment of coffee…..