Caffeine Helps to Reduce Brain Cancer Risk

A study has found that, a daily cup of tea or coffee can defend you from brain cancer. People who drink one cup of either hot drink can cut the risk of the disease by a third.

Scientists believe that caffeine may restrict blood flow to the brain and stop the growth of tumors’. The antioxidant properties present in the tea or coffee are supposed to cut the risk of the disease.

Around 4,200 people are diagnosed with a brain tumor each year and about half of them are cases of gliomas- a type of cancer that can be very difficult to treat. Symptoms range from headaches and seizures to blurred vision, drowsiness and even changes in personality, memory or mental ability.

As a part of the story, researchers studied 500,000 men and women over eight years.

The team compared cancer rates among frequent coffee and tea drinkers to volunteers who consumed little or no caffeinated hot drinks.

"A daily cup of either drink reduced the risk by an average of 34 percent"

"These findings are of interest as glioma is the most common type of primary brain tumor and the results from this study were obtained from a very large study population," said Euan Paul, executive director of the British coffee association.

"Other studies recently published have also demonstrated that moderate coffee consumption does not increase the risk of cancer in the breast, kidney, bladder, skin or colon," he added.