Posted on 10/21/2009 7:35:29 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Researchers in the United States have found another good reason to go to the local espresso bar: several cups of coffee a day could halt the progression of liver disease, a study showed Wednesday.
Sufferers of chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease who drank three or more cups of coffee per day slashed their risk of the disease progressing by 53 percent compared to patients who drank no coffee, the study led by Neal Freedman of the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) showed.
For the study, 766 participants enrolled in the Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) trial -- all of whom had hepatitis C which had not responded to treatment with anti-viral drugs -- were asked to report how many cups of coffee they drank every day.
The patients were seen every three months during the 3.8-year study and liver biopsies were taken at 1.5 and 3.5 five years to determine the progression of liver disease.
"We observed an inverse association between coffee intake and liver disease progression," meaning patients who drank three or more cups of java were less likely to see their liver disease worsen than non-drinkers, wrote the authors of the study, which will be published in the November issue of Hepatology.
The researchers put forward several ways in which coffee intake might protect against liver disease, including by reducing the risk of type two diabetes, which has been associated with liver illness; or by reducing inflammation, which is thought to cause fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Oh, goody. Wonder if “fatty liver” is helped.
Wow, most hep c patients are told to lay off the java, period.
This is an interesting finding.
My wife has a severe case of Hep C (i.e, she’s on the transplant list) and she’s never been told not to drink coffee. Unfortunately she’s never been told to drink it either, and does so only occasionally (until now, perhaps).
Coffee is more proof that God loves us.
OTOH, you may not want to drink that coffee...
Man arrested for making coffee naked
[are those beans in the grinder, or...]
upi | Oct. 20, 2009
Posted on 10/20/2009 2:37:13 PM PDT by JoeProBono
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2366931/posts
Wow. So sorry.
You has mail.
Methyl Xanthines are good!
Follow up study: how many alcoholic beverages does a cup of coffee offset? If it’s 1:1 then we’re in business.
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