MIAMI (AFP) – Drinking four or more cups of caffeinated coffee daily may significantly reduce the chance that colon cancer will return in patients who were diagnosed with stage III of the disease, a study said Monday.
The study involved about 1,000 patients, all of whom had undergone surgery and chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer.
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Centre in Boston found that the greatest benefit was seen in those who drank four or more cups of coffee a day, for about 460 milligrams of caffeine.
“These patients were 42 per cent less likely to have their cancer return than non-coffee drinkers, and were 33 percent less likely to die from cancer or any other cause,” said the study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Those who drank two to three cups of coffee daily experienced a “more modest benefit, while little protection was associated with one cup or less”.
The researchers found the lowered risks of recurrence and death were specifically tied to the caffeine in coffee rather than other coffee components.
Stage III disease means that the colon cancer has been found in the lymph nodes near the original tumour site, but not elsewhere in the body.
Lead author Charles Fuchs, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Centre at Dana-Farber, said these patients have about a 35 per cent chance of the cancer coming back after treatment.
Most recurrences happen within five years of treatment.
“We found that coffee drinkers had a lower risk of the cancer coming back and a significantly greater survival and chance of a cure,” Fuchs said in a statement announcing the study’s findings.
Other studies have suggested that coffee may have a protective effect against postmenopausal breast cancer, melanoma, liver cancer and advanced prostate cancer.
More study is needed to confirm the study’s finding of the link between coffee and preventing colon cancer’s return.
“If you are a coffee drinker and are being treated for colon cancer, don’t stop,” Fuchs said. “But if you’re not a coffee drinker and wondering whether to start, you should first discuss it with your physician.”
On Oct 1, something important is going to be removed in Potong Pasir.
It is a covered walkway, built in 2008, leading from Potong Pasir MRT station to Block 147 at Potong Pasir Avenue 1. It has to go because a mall and a condominium would be coming up, so residents were told. This might not seem like a big deal – except this is one particular walkway which had been talked about and argued over, even in Parliament and during elections. And is probably one of the last remaining sign of Mr Chiam See Tong’s 27 years stewardship of Potong Pasir.
The MRT walkway built by Mr Chiam See Tong at Potong Pasir. Picture taken in August 2015.
The sign by Mr Chiam’s Potong Pasir Town Council about when the MRT walkway was opened has been removed. Picture taken in August 2015.
Today, the PAP announced its candidate for Potong Pasir. Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, 51, will be defending his seat after narrowly scooping it up from Mrs Lina Chiam in 2011. Mrs Chiam is of course, the wife of Mr Chiam See Tong, who has been synonymous with Potong Pasir since he became an MP in 1984. Mr Sitoh told reporters this morning that the past four years has not been about removing Mr Chiam’s legacy, but whether intentional or not, that is what it has felt like to the residents here who, like me, have come to love the neighbourhood as it was under Mr Chiam’s charge.
When Mrs Chiam lost the Potong Pasir seat by a mere 114 votes, there were plenty of tears not just for the Chiams’ Singapore People’s Party but for what it meant for the ward’s identity. In the months following that May day, my tiny town was invaded by camera-toting Singaporeans, from as far away as Woodlands and Tampines, who wanted to see for themselves the housing estate that had withstood 27 years of wooing by the People’s Action Party.
Was it really a slum? Did Mr Chiam really conduct his Meet-The-People Sessions (MPS) in an open-air void deck? Did residents really suffer from a lack of amenities in the estate?
My constituency, where I have lived for 20 years, became a curiosity. Visitors would get off the train at Potong Pasir MRT station, and recall that it was supposed to be named Sennett, and was rumoured to stay closed even when the Northeast Line began operation in 2003.
They would walk along that walkway to Block 147 and recall how politicised this walkway became during the 2006 elections, a story involving a concrete path sheltered by trees, to having solar powered lights that was left abandoned, and that eventually became that sheltered walkway.
They would have their photograph taken in front of the ‘Welcome to Potong Pasir’ signboard, which had a a smiling Mr Chiam, before it got taken down. They would then head to Block 108, where Mr Chiam had his MPS with the residents, and marvel at the table and chairs.
‘Welcome to Potong Pasir Constituency’ Signboard. Picture taken in June 2011.
Next stop would be the coffeeshop at Block 136, which Mr Chiam makes a point of visiting after each election victory. Then visitors will walk by the river in the estate, experiencing the quiet charm of a slower paced Singapore.
This was a constituency without an NTUC Fairprice supermarket (it used to be at Block 136, but it was closed after the elections in 1984), nor a bank (POSBank used to be at Block 146, but it was closed after the elections in 1988). There was not even a Post Office (there was Promax Stationery, a Postal Agent, at block 148, which performed some postal services, but it closed in the 2000s). Potong Pasir’s lifts did not stop on every floor then.
It lacked amenities, yes, and this lack contributed to the laid-back, kampung feel of Potong Pasir. Without an NTUC, you would have to patronise the estate’s wet market at Block 148, or the neighbourhood dry-goods uncle’s shop at Block 137, or the 24-hour neighbourhood supermarket at Block 136. The shopkeepers and stall holders will always have time to banter with you.
New stage area built between Blk 136 and 140 at Potong Pasir. Picture taken in August 2015.
The iconic walkway with a pavilion in the centre that was completed in July 2000. It has been demolished in the recent upgrading. Picture taken on 4 Jan 2013, by Matthew Ang.
Residents find it painful to use the stairs because lifts do not stop at every floor, yes, but this meant that they had more time to chat with each other while waiting at lift landings. Helping an elderly aunty lugging her grocery up the stairs became the norm.
While there wasn’t a Post Office or a bank, there was the facility-filled, ever-bustling Toa Payoh Hub, a short bus ride away on the only bus service in Potong Pasir (there was another bus service serving the estate, but it was rerouted after the elections in 1991). And when Serangoon Nex opened its doors in 2010, it was an even shorter train ride away.
One Potong Pasir quirk was the signs by the Town Council showing when amenities and improvements were installed. They were everywhere: in playgrounds, parks, and even on trees planted by Mr Chiam.
Tree planting sign board, during Mr Chiam’s stewardship at Potong Pasir. Picture taken in May 2011.
Almost all have been replaced or removed because of the intense upgrading programme Mr Sitoh Yih Pin, the PAP MP, has embarked upon since 2011. Potong Pasir is being made over. You see it – the “keep out” hoardings. You hear it – the pounding of construction equipment.
Since 2011, an NTUC Fairprice supermarket, a Post Office, a bank, and even a gym has come up. We have lifts that stop on all floors save for eight blocks in the estate. We have more sheltered walkways being constructed, and a beautiful riverside park newly opened for residents. A new street soccer court has been built beside Block 109, as there are plans to reuse the space of the street soccer court built by Mr Chiam. We also have more family service centres at void decks serving the residents.
The new futsal court in Potong Pasir that was built by Mr Sitoh Yih Pin. Picture taken in August 2015.
The old futsal court in Potong Pasir that was built by Mr Chiam See Tong. Picture taken in August 2015.
Progress comes at a price. A few of our old-time shops have closed down, and I don’t know where uncle has gone. The supermarket and the bank bring more non-residents into our estate. Our coffeeshops are now so crowded and I have to ‘ta-bao’ my family dinner instead of having my family eat there. It is now more difficult to linger and catch up with people in the estate you know.
I dread the upcoming mall and condominium. I have an inkling that it would be like going to Nex at Serangoon. You find yourself swept in a shifting sea of people, able to only wave a ‘Hi!’ to a familiar face before being pressed on. My in-laws already complain about the lack of parking spaces in their carpark that is just next to the NTUC supermarket.
Sometimes, I wonder if all this infrastructural ‘upgrading’ is just to show activity and money spent. If something is upgraded or new, does it follow that it must be good? All the busy-ness is hurting the connections that residents have built up over time. Soon, the new, shiny Potong Pasir will be just like any other PAP ward with no sign left of Mr Chiam’s struggles to maintain the estate for 27 years – and the residents’ efforts to be self-reliant.
I intend to snap several pictures of the walkway to keep the memories of this undaunted little place alive.
I saw your post on the SD Perfume. The first thing I thought to myself is that the company is really racist. This is obviously discrimination. They want to recruit because of someone’s race, not by someone’s ability to speak the language they require.
When will such companies learn? After 50 years we still see people judge others based on the colour of their skin. Yes, some may say the situation is better here than many other countries. My question is, so what? There is no place for racism. Those discriminated against suffer, The country as a whole suffer.
Even more grating are people who condone or try to justify these racist acts. You take a look at these people and their five-cens worth
Does everyone have to be an MP or a politician to make things right? This complaining is not without merit. We are not starting a riot, merely asking that such companies are penalised for their unfair, discriminatory practices. What makes him think that Malays are not striving to provide for the family? That is why the lady enquired about the job in the first place.
What does the attitude of parts of the Malay community got to do with this? Whether or not they are hardworking or lazy, this company will still not take them because “[they] are not Chinese”. This racism is there, regardless of how smart, intelligent, capable or beautiful that person is.
And this takes the cake…the worst thing you can do when a fellow member of your community is facing racism is to condemn your own community. Does he think he is better than everyone else?
I am not a Malay ultra or even an Opposition supporter. But we cannot deny that racism exists and for us to overcome the problems, we need to acknowledge the problem and admonish those racist b******s…together as Singaporeans.
“Sugar dating” sites, which pair young women with rich older men willing to pay lavishly for companionship, have, in recent years, begun targeting people in Singapore. And hundreds have been signing up, leading to some to call for them to be banned as they could draw young women into prostitution.
Sugardaddysingapore.com is run by a United States-based sugar dating agency, and has a list of 500 women and 60 men from here.
In the case of seekingarrangement.com, which is also based in the US and is founded by Singapore-born businessmen Brandon Wade, 1,200 men and 700 women from Singapore have active accounts.
On whatsyourprice.com, where men make bids to ask women out on dates, there is a list of 250 men and 350 women from here.
Most of the Singapore women at the popular seekingarrangement.com are in their 20s, but about 50 were 18. Many posted photos of themselves in suggestive poses, or dressed in bikinis or lingerie.
A 19-year-old student, who calls herself Annab89, joined the website in March. She wrote in her profile: “I am looking for a short-term sugar relationship, for now, though that most definitely could change. I am bisexual, so sugar mommas and dads, I want you!”
Several were upfront about “prices”. “Looking for monthly financial support of $4 to $6k with meet-ups once or twice a week,” wrote 25-year-old ReiReiXX, who joined the website in April.
Nicolettebaby, who listed herself as a 23-year-old with a 34C-26-33 figure, wrote: “Dinner dates at $300. No physical intimacy.”
Several men were explicit about their intentions.
“I don’t want to kid anyone here that I’m only seeking meaningful deep conversations with somebody beautiful and smart,” said a 43-year-old film director, who stays in East Coast. “Please don’t contact me if you don’t even enjoy sex.”
But others claim they are not looking just for a sex partner.
“I am a regional sales director and stock trader and can teach and guide you in stock trading if you are keen,” was one response a fictitious account set up by The Sunday Times received from a 46-year-old man who lives in Alexandra. Another 34-year-old finance professional offered $200 for a first date at whatsyourprice.com.
It is free for women to join these websites, but men have to pay as much as $100 per month to make contact with women. These men are mostly in their 40s and 50s and listed occupations include lawyers, traders or marketing directors. Around 350 men listed their relationship status as “married but looking” on seekingarrangement.com.
These websites have kept a low profile in Singapore, unlike controversial Canada-based dating portal Ashley Madison, which connects would-be adulterers. In November 2013, it announced plans to launch a Singapore site, but that was quickly blocked by Internet regulator Media Development Authority (MDA) as “it facilitated extramarital affairs and declared it would specifically target Singaporeans”.
But there are no similar plans for sugar dating sites, which are growing in popularity around the world. The largest of them, sugardaddyforme.com, reportedly has more than 45 million members. An MDA spokesman added: “Site blocking is not a comprehensive and foolproof solution. There are many sites with undesirable content on the Internet, and it is not practical to block every one of them.”
A Ministry of Social and Family Development spokesman said that while it supports the blocking of websites that go against family values, it is not very effective and “cannot be the only solution”. Instead, parents can shield their children and peers can coax their friends away from temptations.
But some consider sugar dating as little more than prostitution. The police warned of the possibility of action, saying: “Police do not take persons who hide behind the anonymity of the Internet to conduct such illicit activities lightly.” It promised to “evaluate the circumstances of each case… before action is taken”.
Senior director for youth services at the Singapore Children’s Society Carol Balhetchet said such websites should be banned even if many more will pop up in their wake. “We are hearing from a growing number of parents of their daughters engaging in commercial sex and we are worried about the vulnerable young,” she said.
“I think there are also others who are just materialistic and should be aware of consequences, such as being addicted to cash for sex or getting sexually transmitted diseases.”
Member of Parliament Seah Kian Peng feels that the authorities should do more. “We do not need such sites and I am all for a ban,” said Mr Seah, who is the Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
“While this will not stop new ones from coming up, we should do what we can and the Government also needs to take a stand and protect as many people and families as possible, and also protect vulnerable and at-risk individuals from being exploited too.”
Mr Wade, a US citizen who made millions running online dating ventures widely criticised for being a thin disguise for the sex trade, did not respond to media queries.
He had studied in St Andrew’s Secondary School and Hwa Chong Junior College before breaking a government scholarship bond and evading national service to pursue his studies abroad.
