We have yet another candidate for the silliest scientific study of the year, although it will probably just win for this week. A new study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, claims that heavy coffee drinkers those who drink more than four cups of regular (caffeinated) coffee a day may cut their risk of dying from cancers of the mouth and throat by nearly half.
This study evaluated more than 968,000 men and women enrolled in the Cancer Prevention Study II. But this is not the only study claiming this connection. Supposedly these findings replicate those of several other studies, according to Dr. Joel Epstein, director of oral medicine at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. He cites these findings as fascinating and remarkable.
But when it comes down to it, Janet Hildebrand, MPH, an epidemiologist with the American Cancer Society who worked on the study, says we really don t clearly know the mechanism. But we do know that coffee contains hundreds of biologically active compounds.
Well, that s just brilliant, says Dr. Bloom. They reason that because there are hundreds of chemicals in coffee, just by sheer chance some of them will somehow prevent cancer by an unknown mechanism. According to that rationale, you should go to your local CVS, collect one of every pill they have, wash them down with a glass of Woolite and expect that something in there will prevent cancer.
ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross adds, There is indeed no biological hypothesis supporting a valid link between high-dose coffee and death from oral cancer. This fascinating and remarkable study is just another case of data-dredging, finding some statistical link using number-crunching that has no basis in reality. It s a shame that some journals publish stuff like this without any real perspective.