US Pharm. 2010;35(1):14.

Chicago, IL, and Cambridge, MA — Drinking lots of coffee might keep diabetes and prostate cancer away, the results of new studies show. A meta-analysis of 18 studies showed that drinking three to four cups per day was associated with a 25% lower risk of diabetes than drinking two cups or less per day, according to Rachel Huxley, PhD, of the George Institute for International Health in Sydney, Australia. The results, which included similar findings for decaffeinated coffee and tea, were reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine. In separate coffee news, reports from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), found that drinking large amounts of coffee can reduce a man’s risk of death from prostate cancer. The researchers found a strong relationship between the consumption of six or more cups of coffee a day and a reduced risk (41%) of aggressive prostate cancer. A weaker relationship was found between heavy coffee use and all forms of prostate cancer (about a 19% reduction). “The more coffee you drank, the more effect we saw,” said Kathryn Wilson, a research fellow in epidemiology at HSPH.