Drinking coffee could be key to ‘curing rosacea’, experts discover
Drinking caffeine through tea, soda or eating it in chocolate made no difference - only coffee reduced rosacea
AS if you need any more excuses to drink more coffee - your delicious morning cup could be the key to "curing" rosacea.
Drinking caffeine from coffee, but not from other sources like tea or chocolate, is associated with a lower risk of the red skin condition, new research suggests.
Rosacea is a common chronic inflammatory condition that causes the skin to become red, flushed and bumpy.
Some sufferers may also experience a burning or stinging sensation.
But little is known about the condition and, at the moment, there is no cure, there's only topical creams that help minimise symptoms.
New research, published in Jama Dermatology, looked at date from more than 82,000 nurses who took part in a health study.
Experts analysed their coffee, tea, soda and chocolate intake, all of which contain caffeine.
Those who drank four or more coffees each day had the lowest risk of developing rosacea, compared to those who only drank coffee once a month.
Decaffeinated coffee wasn't associated with a lower risk of the skin condition.
Caffeine causes our blood vessels to constrict, which could reduce redness and inflammation associated with rosacea, experts from Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University in the US found.
It's also an immunosuppresent, which can also lead to reduced levels of inflammation in the body.
But, the researchers do admit that they need to carry out more studies to determine the benefits of caffeine for rosacea sufferers.
Rosacea is a long-term condition that mainly affects the face, but many sufferers report self-esteem issues.
Sufferers may find their symptoms vary from week to week - sometimes it might be worse while other times the symptoms are mild.
MORE ON SKIN CONDITIONS
According to the British Skin Foundation rosacea cannot be cured.
"No treatment can be guaranteed to switch rosacea off forever," a statement on it's website reads.
"However long-term treatments control symptoms and can clear the spots.
"Treatment works best if started when rosacea is at an early stage."
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