From foodconsumer.org
Drinking tea may lower risk of bile stones and cancer
By Ben Wasserman
Jul 9, 2006, 18:42
July 8 (foodconsumer.org) - Drinking tea was found once again to be probably protective against cancer - bile cancer this time, suggests a new study published in the June issue of International Journal of Cancer. Drinking tea may also help reduce the risk of bile stones.
Bile stones, often seen in women and linked to obesity, would likely result in the removal of gallbladder although alternative medicine may be used to remove bile stones safely.
Billiary tract cancers including cancers of the gallbladder and extrahepatic bile ducts are rare, yet fatal. No more than 10 percent of patients could live over five years after treatment.
The study involved 627 patients with billiary tract cancers, 1037 with billiary stones and 959 people as controls. Researchers examined the potential effects of tea consumption on the risk of billiary tract cancers and billiary stones.
In women, the researchers found drinking at least one cup of tea per day for 6 months seemed to reduce the risks of bile stones by 27 percent, gallbladder cancer by 44 percent, and bile duct cancer by 35 percent. The association was also seen in men, but not as significant as in women.
Many constituents in tea, particularly in green tea may have anti-cancer effects among many other health benefits. Cancer reseach has discovered that some components in green tea promote deaths of cancer cells.
But the Food and Drug Administration rejected in June 2005 a petition for a health claim over the anticancer effects of green tea. The federal agency does not believe the evidence is strong enough for it to approve such a claim.
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qhc-gtea.html
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