Coffee May Reduce Risk of Dying From Certain Types of Cirrhosis

Drinking coffee may reduce the risk of death from certain types of liver cirrhosis, a large new study suggests. Drinking two or more cups of coffee a day was associated with a 66 per cent lower risk of death from liver cirrhosis caused by non-viral hepatitis, according to the study published online recently in the journal Hepatology. According to doctors, drinking tea, fruit juice or soft drinks had no effect on the risk of death from liver cirrhosis, while heavy alcohol use increased the risk.

Coffee is a complex study then other food items. The study is first “to demonstrate a difference between the effects of coffee on non-viral and viral hepatitis related cirrhosis mortality”. “This finding resolves the seemingly conflicting results on the effect of coffee in Western and Asian-based studies of death from liver cirrhosis. Finding suggests that while the benefit of coffee may be less apparent in the Asian population where chronic viral hepatitis B predominates currently, this is expected to change as the incidence of non-viral hepatitis related cirrhosis is expected to increase in these regions, accompanying the increasing affluence and westernising lifestyles amongst their younger populations.”