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 Researchers analyzed data from nine previously published studies
with a total of more than 430,000 participants and found that
drinking two additional cups of coffee a day was linked to a 44%
lower risk of developing liver cirrhosis.
“Cirrhosis is potentially fatal and there is no cure as such,” said
lead study author Dr. Oliver Kennedy of Southampton University in
the U.K.
“Therefore, it is significant that the risk of developing cirrhosis
may be reduced by consumption of coffee, a cheap, ubiquitous and
well-tolerated beverage,” Kennedy added by email.
Cirrhosis kills more than one million people every year worldwide.
It can be caused by hepatitis infections, excessive alcohol
consumption, immune disorders, and fatty liver disease, which is
tied to obesity and diabetes.
Kennedy and colleagues did a pooled analysis of average coffee
consumption across earlier studies to see how much adding two
additional cups each day might influence the odds of liver disease.
Combined, the studies included 1,990 patients with cirrhosis.
In eight of the nine studies analyzed, increasing coffee consumption
by two cups a day was associated with a significant reduction in the
risk of cirrhosis.
In all but one study, the risk of cirrhosis continued to decline as
daily cups of coffee climbed.
Compared to no coffee consumption, researchers estimated one cup a
day was tied to a 22% lower risk of cirrhosis. With two cups, the
risk dropped by 43%, while it declined 57% for three cups and 65%
with four cups.
But the results still leave some unresolved questions.
One study, for example, found a stronger link between coffee
consumption and reduced cirrhosis risk with filtered coffee than
with boiled coffee.
And, while the studies accounted for alcohol consumption, not all
them accounted for other cirrhosis risk factors like obesity and
diabetes, the authors note in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology
and Therapeutics, online January 25.
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Patients also shouldn’t take the findings to mean loading up on
frothy caramel lattes packed with sugar and topped with whipped
cream is a good way to prevent liver disease, Kennedy cautioned.
It’s also not clear exactly how coffee might lead to a healthier
liver, or whether the type of beans or brewing method matter.
“Coffee is a complex mixture containing hundreds of chemical
compounds, and it is unknown which of these is responsible for
protecting the liver,” Kennedy said.
It’s also important to note that coffee isn’t powerful enough to
counteract lifestyle choices that can severely damage the liver,
said Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at New York
University Langone Medical Center in New York who wasn’t involved in
the study.
“Unfortunately, although coffee contains compounds that have
antioxidant effects and anti-inflammatory properties, drinking a few
cups of coffee a day cannot undo the systematic damage that is the
result of being overweight or obese, sedentary, excessive alcohol
consumption or drastically mitigate an unhealthy diet,” Heller said
by email.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1NRwqBW
Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2016.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
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