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Caffeine And Exercise Could Protect Against Skin Cancer
– Reported, April 09 2012
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A recent study shows that the combined effects of excercise and the consumption of caffeine may be able to protect against skin cancer and possibly prevent inflammation related to other obesity-linked cancers.
“We found that this combination treatment can decrease sunlight-caused skin cancer formation in a mouse model. I believe we may extrapolate these findings to humans and anticipate that we would benefit from these combination treatments as well,” Yao-Ping Lu, Ph.D., associate professor of chemical biology and director of skin cancer prevention at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy in Piscataway, N.J., was quoted as saying.
Scientists evaluated the effects of exercise and caffeine on mice at high risk for developing skin cancer. Results showed that the mice who exercised on a running wheel and took a dose of caffeine experienced 62 percent fewer skin tumors. Also the volume of tumors decreased by 85 percent. When caffeine and exercise were taken independently, positive effects were found but to a lesser extent. Researchers observed a 27 percent decrease in tumors in caffeine only mice and a 61 percent decrease in tumor size. When the mice only did excercise, researchers found that tumor activity decreased by 35 percent and volume decreased by 70 percent.
Researchers fed the mice a high-fat diet of omega-6 fatty acid-rich foods and measured the volume of the parametrical fat pad after two weeks of exercise and caffeine treatment. They found that exercise and caffeine reduced weight and inflammation. Mice who had caffeine and excercised had a fat pad weight decrease of 63 percent. Those who had caffeine only had a30 percent decrease, and exercise-only mice had a 56 percent decrease. Dr. Lu believes that the link is inflammation, which dropped 92 percent in mice that exercised and consumed caffeine.
SOURCE: American Association for Cancer Research, April 2012
