Medicine: Coffee Nerves

Is there cancer in the cup?

More than half the population over age ten gulps down coffee at an average rate of two cups a day. To coffee lovers the black brew is an elixir that soothes frazzled nerves, gives the mind a lift at exam time, spells drop-in hospitality to the housewife. Yet in recent years coffee has been tentatively tied to various afflictions, including diabetes, heart attack, and cancer of the colon, urinary tract and stomach. Last week Harvard University researchers announced a statistical link between coffee and cancer of the pancreas. The pancreas produces enzymes vital to digestion and...

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