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Heavy tea drinkers have higher prostate cancer risk

GLASGOW, Scotland, June 20 (UPI) -- Men who drink several cups of tea a day for decades have a higher risk of prostate cancer, researchers in Scotland say.

Dr. Kashif Shafique of the Institute of Health & Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow and colleagues found those who drank more than seven cups of tea per day for years had a 50 percent higher risk of developing prostate cancer compared with non-tea drinkers or those drinking less than four cups per day.

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"Most previous research has shown either no relationship with prostate cancer for black tea or some preventive effect of green tea," Shafique, the study leader, said in a statement. "We don't know whether tea itself is a risk factor or if tea drinkers are generally healthier and live to an older age when prostate cancer is more common anyway."

Shafique and colleagues used data from a study began in Scotland in 1970 that gathered data from more than 6,016 male volunteers -- ages 21-75 years -- who were asked to complete a questionnaire about their usual consumption of tea, coffee, alcohol, smoking habits and general health.

About one-quarter of the men were heavy tea drinkers and of these, 6.4 percent developed prostate cancer during a follow-up of up to 37 years.

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"We found that heavy tea drinkers were more likely not to be overweight, be non-alcohol-drinkers and have healthy cholesterol levels," Shafique said.

The findings were published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer.

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