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Medicine Science

Topical Caffeine Might Help Fight Skin Cancer 37

Posted by kdawson from the pour-it-on-your-head dept.
seattle-pk notes a story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about the apparent protective effects of caffeine against skin cancer. "For some years, studies have hinted at the possibility that caffeine can reduce the risk of some cancers. Now, new work by scientists at the University of Washington and Rutgers University may have unlocked the biochemical secrets behind caffeine's cancer-fighting ability. Studies at Rutgers (PDF) have shown that caffeine applied to the skin reverses ultraviolet-induced damage and reduces skin cancer."
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Topical Caffeine Might Help Fight Skin Cancer More

Topical Caffeine Might Help Fight Skin Cancer

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  • Caffeinated soap? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Megane ( 129182 ) on Saturday March 08, 2008 @04:17PM (#22688342)
    So you mean those guys making caffeinated soap [google.com] were on to something after all?

  • Your Honor (Score:2, Funny)

    by ardyng ( 973980 )
    I wasn't assaulting the plaintiff when I splashed a mug of scalding coffee on him. I was merely attempting to increase his well being by trying to prevent skin cancer. ^.^

  • And its other effects? (Score:5, Informative)

    by davecrusoe ( 861547 ) on Saturday March 08, 2008 @04:29PM (#22688398) Homepage
    Caffeine isn't just *possibly* good against skin cancer. There are definitely other things it's OK for, such as learning and memory, or at least, that thing we all do: work! See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Effects_on_memory_and_learning [wikipedia.org] for all its complexities. Its really pretty interesting...
    • It was also considered fairly effective as an early form of insecticide.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Phisbut ( 761268 )

      There are definitely other things it's OK for, such as learning and memory, or at least, that thing we all do: work!

      What's that again? I thought we were all on /. just to prevent that kind of behavior...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Plekto ( 1018050 )
      Well, duh...

      It's the only way us older folks can keep up with those 15 year olds online.

  • So now, instead of dumping all the cold/badly brewed coffee, we can just pour it on ourselves...
  • That's why our company has mostly caffeinated drinks in the vending machine!
  • Ok, I got nothing after that.
    • Surely you must get inspired by the billions of coffee shops with stupid "bean," "grind" or "grounds" puns in their names..?

      "The Daily Grind"
      "The Stomping Grounds"
      "Bean Vivant"

      etc. etc.
  • Your local Starbucks is going to be a lot more interesting to visit.

    Well, on second thought, the one over by the University where the coeds hang out, will be more interesting. The one over by the retirement home, not so much.
  • They've got caffeinated soap, shampoo, shower gel and whatnot for sale - and now, they can advertise them as cancer-preventing in addition to jolt-giving! BTW, does anybody here have any experience with those caffeinated soaps and shampoos and can confirm their effectiveness? Just curious, they look quite plausible, but it's always good to know a first-hand opinion.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by beefsprocket ( 1152865 )
      That's a big negative. From our friendly local erowid [erowid.org]:

      A search for scientific studies about the permeability of caffeine through mammalian skin yielded several webpages describing caffeine's poor ability to be absorbed transdermally. While one page did describe caffeine as having "good penetrating capability", this was in a study in which the skin was exposed for 4 hrs using radioactivly labelled caffeine. Even then, with a 1 mg or 9.3 mg caffeine per 100 cm^2 area of skin the absorbed dose was calculated t

    • It's a scam second only to oxigenated water. But there are always idiots willing to buy it, even on slashdot apparently.
    • for caffeine (or any drug, for that matter) to go to through the skin, you'd have to have a carrier.
  • ...link to our favorite retailer: http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/accessories/5a65/ [thinkgeek.com]
  • I'll be sure to rub some Mountain Dew on my face the next time I pop open a can.

  • New fad: coffee tan. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Garridan ( 597129 )
    Granted, I live in Seattle, so I might be biased -- this sounds like a great alternative to tanning. You go in, get some coffee sprayed on... it turns your skin a nice healthy brownish, and reduces damage from previous tans / burns. The color of coffee stained skin is *much* better than the fake orange stuff. (though... I would miss the sight of preppy girls that look like oompa loompas -- that never ceases to amuse me)
  • What does a coffee plant need with caffeine? Surely coffee plants didn't evolve caffeine production because it wanted to stimulate humans. And certainly a coffee plant never had to use caffeine to stay awake while cramming for the LSAT. So what's it good for?

    Maybe these beneficial effects that we're discovering might help us understand just why is it that so many kinds of plants make caffeine.

    • Re:To paraphrase Captain Kirk (Score:4, Informative)

      by Carbon016 ( 1129067 ) on Saturday March 08, 2008 @10:27PM (#22690034)
      Caffeine is quite an effective pesticide. It's an evolutionary self-defense mechanism against insects, especially effective when you're still in the "I don't have any protective stuff" phase like a seedling.
      • Caffeine does what it does because it mimics and inhibits the effects of adenosine, a common neurotransmitter that itself acts as a CNS inhibitor, so it could be said that caffeine is an "inhibitor inhibitor". In humans, this has the pleasant effects that we've come to know and love. The nervous system of insects, however, employs adenosine somewhat differently, so the effects of caffeine are considerably more dramatic. Viva Wikipedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Mechanism_of_action [wikipedia.org]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rtb61 ( 674572 )
      Could it possibly have something to do with over stimulating nocturnal herbivorous insects and get then staying out after lights up, where in their frenzied and 'buzzed' out state, they more readily become a meal for the carnivorous types. So hyper bugs that stay up for just that one bite to many and, then they themselves get bitten.

      So do the carnivorous typed prefer caffeinated meals, perhaps some human caffeine addicts can tells the rest of us how well they fair against mosquitoes and the like ;).

  • Bad Summary (Score:2, Informative)

    by DoctorLard ( 926224 )

    "Studies at Rutgers (PDF) have shown that caffeine applied to the skin reverses ultraviolet-induced damage and reduces skin cancer."

    Caffeine applied to the skin? Reverses UV damage? Reduces skin cancer? I call bullshit. Reading TFA reveals:

    1. this was a test on mice,
    2. it measured the apoptosis (programmed cell death) incidence in sunburnt skin tissue, using a microscopy assessment,
    3. the caffeine was orally administered, and
    4. caffeine combined with voluntary exercise was greater than either effect alone.
  • Someone from Starbucks decided to publish this "Clowns Hate Tangelos" [youtube.com] type of story.

    Yet more NEWS that instructing you to CONSUME!

    Here's a news flash, Corporate America: EVERYBODY'S BROKE!
  • Now they can send a huge bill for cancer prevention therapy to that lady who got the rediculous judgement against them when she spilled coffee on herself.

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