Drinking coffee could increase our survival
While helping to reduce healthcare costs, study finds
Coffee consumption could help us to live longer, a study conducted by Xcenda, the strategic consulting arm of AmerisourceBergen, has found.
The study looked at coffee consumption across the US by reviewing meta-analyses on the association of coffee and chronic diseases and cancers.
Eighty-three per cent of the US adult population drinks coffee. Of these, moderate coffee drinkers will see an extra 0.5 year gain; a physically active person, a 1.8–4.5 year gain; and for those who quit smoking at the age of 35, a 6.1–8.5 year gain.
Coffee consumption could also be an effective way of reducing healthcare costs on a scale comparable with the cost of preventing chronic diseases such as lung and breast cancer.
Xcenda estimated that US$33.4bn in annual healthcare cost savings, or $225 for each coffee drinker, is linked to coffee consumption.
By comparison, lung cancer costs the US government $82bn annually; total expenditure on emergency care is $47.3bn; the cost of prescription medicines to treat diabetes is $31.68bn; and medical costs associated with breast cancer total $16.5bn each year.
‘Our health economic model estimated that coffee consumption prevents over 50,000 deaths per year due to chronic disease and cancer and results in an estimated healthcare saving of $33.4bn per year,’ said Ken O'Day, Director at Xcenda. ‘This shows us that coffee may be more than just a morning pick-me-up.’
