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Brown University researchers recently conducted a study published in the journal JAMA Dermatology to determine the relationship between dietary habits and rosacea risk. Rosacea is a skin disorder that affects the blood vessels on the face with redness and sometimes acne-like bumps.
For their assessment, they examined nearly 83,000 women enrolled in a national nurse study between 1
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"We found that caffeine intake of coffee, but not other foods (tea, lemonade, and chocolate) was associated with a decreased risk of rosacea in a dose-dependent manner," the authors write.
The analysts found that earlier studies showed the opposite effect. However, they indicated that their study is the first of their kind to assess the association between caffeine intake, coffee consumption and risk of rosacea in a large cohort of women.
While the team is unclear why coffee is associated with a lower risk of rosacea, they hypothesize that caffeine can positively affect blood vessels and the immune system. They also said that caffeine is known to contain antioxidants and immunosuppressant effects that can lead to decreased inflammation in rosacea. But further investigations are necessary.
"Further studies," the team concluded, "are necessary to explain the mechanisms of action of these associations, to reproduce our findings in other populations, and to examine the relationship of caffeine to various subtypes of rosacea."
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