Caffeine Lotion & Skin Cancer
January 11th, 2007 by 
Bobbie Grennier
A medical breakthrough in the research on skin cancer is being celebrated to date. It has been discovered that caffeine can lower the risk of skin cancer in laboratory mice.Dr. Allan Conney, a professor of cancer and leukemia research at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., released a study to the public that indicates that skin lotion containing caffeine can reduce by more than half, the number of cancerous tumors on the skin of hairless mice that have been exposed to dangerous levels of ultraviolet radiation.Studies showed between 50-70% less tumor formation as a result of the caffeine. This also included EGCG a less stable substance than caffeine.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancers in the United States, with about a million cases diagnosed every year. Left untreated, it can be deadly.
Sun screen lotions protect skin against cancer by preventing the skin from absorbing the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Caffeine’s cancer protection works right in the cells after exposure. Ultraviolet rays cause genetic changes in the skin that can result in skin cancer. Conney’s report says that caffeine apparently blocks the cancer causing action by making abnormal cells die, but has no effect on the normal cells.
Posted in Sports | 