Drinking water 'could cut bladder cancer risk in men'
Drinking water is good for health for its numerous benefits. Now, add one more to the long list -- downing more than four pints of the beverage daily can cut men's risk of bladder cancer by a quarter, say researchers.
A new study of 48,000 men, carried out by Brown University, found that those who drank more than 2,531 ml of fluids a day -- equal to almost four and a half pints -- had a 24 per cent lower risk or bladder cancer.
This could be because the liquid flushes any cancer-causing agents out of the bladder before they are able to cause any harm, according to the researchers.
For their study, the researchers analysed questionnaire responses from the prospective Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which surveyed the men aged 40 and above over a 22-year period, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.
Participants were asked about how much fluid they regularly drank at four-year intervals, and results showed that the benefit of drinking fluids was higher when men were younger, and the association grew weaker with age.
The study also showed that men reduced their liquid intake -- particularly of water -- as they got older.
Bladder cancer is said to be the fourth most common cancer among men. The disease is more prevalent among men than women, and most often occurs between 50 and 80 years of age.
