Coffee May Reduce Liver Damage Caused by Alcohol: Study

By FEROZE DHANOA (Patch National Staff)

WILMINGTON, MA - Researchers have good news for anyone who may be categorized as a coffee lover and a glutton. After conducting a review of nine published studies, researchers found that drinking more coffee might help reduce the kind of liver damage associated with excessive consumption of food and alcohol.

Data analyzed from nine published studies found that drinking two cups of coffee daily nearly halved the risk of developing liver cirrhosis.

According to the study, between 1980 and 2010, the number of deaths worldwide from cirhossis increased from around 676,000 to over one million. The most common causes of liver cirhossis are hepatitis C, fatty liver disease and alcohol consumption.

Lead study author Dr. Oliver Kennedy of Southampton University in the U.K. told Reuters it was significant that the risk of developing cirrhossis may be reduced by coffee consumption as it is a potentially fatal disease with no cure as such.

Researchers calculated how adding two cups of coffee to daily consumption may change the odds of developing liver disease by conducting a pooled analysis of average coffee consumption across previously published studies that reported on associations between coffee consumption and cirhossis, Reuters reported, explaining the methodology. Of the nine studies that were analyzed, researchers found that increasing coffee consumption by two cups per day was associated with a statistically significant reduction in the risk of cirhossis in eight of the studies.

However, as pointed out by Reuters, the study leaves a lot of questions unanswered and patients should not take it to mean that consuming coffee is a good way to prevent liver damage.

Read the full study here.