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Canada

"Coffee may lower some breast cancer risks"

Source: CTV.CA

Published: 04 Jan 2022

Category: Other

Rating: (2 stars)

what they said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

A new study has found that caffeinated coffee may significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer in women with a particular type of gene mutation.

"If we can reduce a little bit the risk of breast cancer that is great," Dr. Parviz Ghadirian, a Montreal epidemioligist, told CTV News.

The study investigated the relationship between coffee consumption and breast cancer and was led by University of Toronto professor Steven A. Narod. It was published in the January edition of the International Journal of Cancer.

"Those women who drank six or more cups of coffee a day on average had about a 75 per cent reduction in the risk of breast cancer," Narod said....

The original article can be found at: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060104/coffee_study_060102/20060104?hub=Health

The original article can found in the Media Doctor archives.

how did it rate? (more information)

Criteria	Rating
Total Score	3 of 9
Availability of Treatment	Satisfactory (?)
Novelty of Treatment	Satisfactory (?)
Disease Mongering	Satisfactory (?)
Treatment Options	Not Satisfactory (?)
Costs of Treatment	Not Applicable
Evidence	Not Satisfactory (?)
Quantification of Benefits of Treatment	Not Satisfactory (?)
Harms of Treatment	Not Satisfactory (?)
Sources of Information	Not Satisfactory (?)
Relies on Press Release	Not Applicable
Quantification of harms of treatment	Not Satisfactory (?)

what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

This story about the effects of coffee on women who carry the BRCA1 mutation lacks one very important bit of information: What is the baseline rate of breast cancer in women who carry this gene? What is the likelihood of them developing breast cancer? It is only then we can get a sense of how much 6 cups a day is likely to reduce that risk. The other issue relates to the type of evidence gathered here: Is this a case-control study? And might there be necessary caveats relating to the strength of the conclusions? Finally, there is no indication that this findings could or even should be used to make recommendations regarding coffee consumption to women with this mutation

In any event, the harm that may be associated with drinking that much coffee is not mentioned; Are there foods that may have less risk but are equally effective in reducing the development of breast cancer in this population?

public forum

(18 Jan 2022) Janet writes,

"Nice site, though safe alternatives to drugs and other usually exist and are cheaper and less painfull to boot. The addition of honest revies of the best of these in conjunction w/ your reviews would be a great service, one that could save many lives...

www.doctoryourself.com is a good source for such articles, including the newsletters listed on the left side of the site. www.mercola.com is also good, especially for stories on the dangers of soy, which are numerous and potentially very deadly, especially with the rise of usage of soy in much of todays processed goods."
(this comment has been moderated)

Media Doctor response,

"We will try to review coverage in the media of the effects of alternative treatments, whenever possible. Thank you for your feedback."

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