News from ASCP

The AP (7/31) reports that the "combination of exercise and caffeine increased destruction of precancerous cells that had been damaged by the sun's ultraviolet-B radiation," according to a report in Tuesday's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers studied four groups of hairless mice, some that "were fed water containing caffeine, some [that] had wheels on which they could run, some [that] had both and a control group [that] had neither." They found that "[c]ompared with the control animals, those drinking caffeine had a 95 percent increase in apoptosis in damaged cells. The exercisers showed a 120 percent increase, and the mice that were both drinking and running showed a nearly 400 percent increase."
      HealthDay (7/31, Doheny) adds, "Whether this combination would work in people is not known." Dr. Michael Gold, founder of the Gold Skin Care Center in Nashville, Tenn., adds, "[W]e do know that caffeine applied topically has been popular as a 'cosmeceutical' anti-aging ingredient and might be useful in helping prevent non-melanoma skin cancers."