NEW HAVEN — Your morning cup of coffee may help stop skin cancer, and the amount you drink may also make a difference.
A new study published in ‘the Journal of the National Cancer Institute’ suggests that coffee could have a “protective effect against non-melanoma skin cancers.”
Erika Loftfield, M.P.H., from the Yale School of Public Health, was the lead researcher on the study, which found the highest coffee intake was inversely associated with a risk of malignant melanoma.
Researchers used coffee consumption information from 447,357 non-Hispanic white subjects in 1995 and 1996. The study suggests that 4 cups of coffee a day or more could reduce the melanoma risk by 20 percent.
It also turns out the effect was “statistically significant” for caffeinated but not decaffeinated coffee.
The researchers point out that the results are only preliminary and more studies are needed.
