Green tea reduces risk of prostate cancer
November 5, 2003
Drinking green tea can dramatically reduce the risk of men contracting
prostate cancer, a study by Australian researchers has discovered.
The new study, carried out by scientists at Perth's Curtin University and
Zhejiang Cancer Hospital in China, discovered men who drink green tea daily have
one-third the risk of prostate cancer compared with non-tea drinkers,
The habitual drinking of the tea over many years can reduce the risk even
more, according to the study to be published in the International Journal of
Cancer.
Professor Colin Binns, from Curtin's school of public health, led the
Australian side of the study along with researchers Dr Andy Lee and Le Jian.
Dr Lee said green tea was the most prevalent in China, but black tea could be
as beneficial.
"In Australia the incidence of prostate cancer is very high, but in China the
incidence is very low. That is the reason that we thought there is something
these people do over there that is different from here." Dr Lee said.
"We accounted for all the other risk factors, such as smoking and alcohol,
but even after all that the effect of tea still stood out."
The study compared 130 Chinese men with prostate cancer with 274 men without
the cancer, using China because it has a larger population of people who drink
only tea, while Australian men tend to drink a variety of beverages.
Dr Lee said the beneficial effects could also be enhanced because the Chinese
tend to drink their tea pure.
"Experimental findings show the antioxidants in the green tea are slightly
more than in other types," Dr Lee said.
"Drinking the tea directly means that the tea will not interact with other
substances like milk and sugar."
Green tea has long been valued by Chinese as a natural remedy, with powerful
antioxidants called catechins shown in studies to fight viruses and slow aging.
Traditionally it has been used to improve digestion, boost energy and help
with liver detoxification, whilst also said to reduce high blood pressure and
lower blood sugar.
The findings of the latest Curtin study followed a discovery by the same
research team that drinking green tea reduced the risk of ovarian cancer in
women.
Dr Lee said their studies have also recently shown that drinking the tea may
prevent the contraction of ovarian cancer as well as helping those already
suffering the disease.
"Early findings show that the tea also enhances survival of those women with
ovarian cancer," Dr Lee said.
- AAP
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