A study conducted in Japan finds that drinking coffee can reduce the risk of mouth and throat cancers by half. If true, this would be another entry in a sizable list of benefits that have recently been attributed to drinking the brewed beverage.

Researchers at Tohoku University in Japan analyzed data from a group of more than 38,000 people aged 40 to 64 who were enrolled in the Miyagi Cohort Study. They report in the American Journal of Epidemiology that people who drank one or more cups of coffee per day had half the risk of developing cancer of the mouth, pharynx, and esophagus compared to people who did not drink coffee.

The reduction in cancer risk occurred both in people who are at high risk for these cancers because they drink alcohol and/or smoke, and in people who did not have an elevated risk of these cancers. The best way to lower your risk of these cancers is to quitting smoking and drinking, but coffee consumption seems to be another way to significantly reduce risk.

The consumption of coffee in Japan is relatively high, as it is in the United States. Recent studies conducted in Europe and America have found benefits of coffee that include lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes, reducing Parkinson’s disease risk by as much as 80 percent, cutting colon cancer risk, lowering the risk of cavities, and even treating headaches.

However, people should be cautioned not to overdo it: most of these studies (including the present one) find benefits to drinking moderate amounts of coffee, and consuming too much of this caffeinated beverage can cause heart palpitations and increases in blood pressure. Coffee can also aggravate gastrointestinal conditions such as GERD and ulcers. Pregnant women, heart patients, and those at high risk for osteoporosis are usually counseled to avoid coffee.

To find out more about the health benefits of coffee, conduct a Healia Web search. For more information about mouth and throat cancers, join the Healia Health Community for Esophageal Cancer or the Healia Health Community for Oral Cancer.


_{Photo: Marcelo Alves, Flickr, Creative Commons}

In what could be a major breakthrough for the use of tissue engineered organs, doctors from four European universities report replacing portions of a woman’s trachea (windpipe) with a new trachea made with the woman’s own stem cells. The technique will allow the woman, named Claudia Castillo, to avoid a lifetime of anti-rejection drugs and may also mark a turning point in the quest to grow new organs for use in transplants.

The procedure involved obtaining a donor trachea from a deceased patient, then used a special technique to strip away all the living, cellular material from it leaving behind only a scaffold of non-living connective tissue. The doctors used a sample of Castillo’s bone marrow to obtain adult stem cells then coaxed them to become cartilage-producing cells called chondrocytes. These cells were then used to seed the donor trachea on the outside, allowing the cells to migrate into the donor tissue and take up residence. The researchers used a similar process in order to line the inside of the donor trachea with epithelial cells.

Castillo elected to receive the transplant after a case of tuberculosis destroyed part of her trachea and one of the tubes that connect it to the lungs (bronchus), making it difficult for her to breathe and leaving her prone to infections. Her only other option was to have her lung removed, which would significantly reduce her respiratory capacity. Now, four months after the transplant, the 30 year old patient has near normal respiratory function and is showing no signs of rejecting the transplant.

The doctors believe the same technique might be used to engineer other hollow organs such as the intestine, bladder, or reproductive tract. If so, science will be that much closer to achieving the holy grail of tissue engineering: growing entire new organs in the lab.

To find out more about tuberculosis or other lung diseases, join the Healia Health Community for TB or the Healia Health Community on Lung Diseases.

_{Photo: NASA Kennedy Space Center (NASA-KSC)}

Strep throat is a bacterial infection of the throat caused by streptococcus bacteria. It can affect anyone, but is most common in children ages 5 to 15. If your child is complaining about a sore throat, it is important to determine if it is from a cold, which is caused by a virus, or if it is strep throat, caused by a bacterial infection. Without knowing the cause of a sore throat, it is hard to determine how to treat it. Strep throat may not get better unless it is treated with antibiotics, but antibiotics have no effect on viral infections.

In general, signs and symptoms of strep throat include:

• throat pain
• difficulty swallowing
• red and swollen tonsils, sometimes with white patches or streaks of pus
• swollen, tender lymph nodes in the neck
• fever
• headache
• rash
• Stomachache, often accompanied by vomiting in younger children

Unfortunately, many of these symptoms are similar to those of a sore throat caused by the common cold. However, one big difference is that strep throat is not associated with a cough. These symptoms can also be indicators of other viral illness or tonsillitis.

With a simple throat swab or rapid antigen test, your doctor can determine whether or not it is strep throat. If so, the doctor can prescribe antibiotic treatment to begin right away.

Want to learn more? Ask an Expert at Healia Health Communities. You can also connect with others in Healia’s Health Community for Streptococcal Infections. 


_{Photo:Ateo Fiel, Flickr, Creative Commons}

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