Drinking coffee could help cut liver disease risk

Consuming coffee regularly could reduce risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) - an autoimmune liver disease - a research has shown.

PSC is an inflammatory disease of the bile ducts that results in inflammation and subsequent fibrosis that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver failure and biliary cancer.

Study author Craig Lammert, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist said, "While rare, PSC has extremely detrimental effects."

For the study, the researchers examined a large group of U.S. patients with PSC and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and a group of healthy patients.

According to data, the coffee consumption was associated with reduced risk of PSC, but not PBC. PSC patients were much likelier not to consume coffee than healthy patients were. The PSC patients also spent nearly 20 percent less of their time regularly drinking coffee than the control.

The study suggests PSC and PBC differ more than originally thought, Konstantinos Lazaridis, M.D., a Mayo Clinic hepatologist and senior study author, said.