Coffee Consumption Associated With Reduced Risk Of Autoimmune Liver Disease

ORLANDO, Fla., May 21, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Research presented today at Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) explores new discoveries in liver disease research, with findings about the impact of coffee on autoimmune disease.

While coffee consumption recently has been associated with reduced risk of fibrosis, a new study found that even a few more cups of java each month also correlate with lower risk for a particular autoimmune liver disease. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, linked coffee consumption with reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a disease of the bile ducts that causes inflammation and subsequent duct obstruction that ultimately can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver failure and biliary cancer.

"While rare, PSC has extremely detrimental effects," said Craig Lammert, MD, instructor of medicine at Mayo Clinic. "We are always looking for ways to mitigate risk, and our first-time finding points to a novel environmental effect that might help us."

Funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Liver Foundation, the study examined the largest cohort of patients with PSC in the U.S. as well as a healthy control group. Data showed that PSC patients were much more likely to never consume coffee compared with the control group.

Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) is the largest international gathering of physicians, researchers and academics in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery. Jointly sponsored by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) and the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT), DDW takes place May 18 to 21, 2013, at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL. The meeting showcases more than 5,000 abstracts and hundreds of lectures on the latest advances in GI research, medicine and technology. www.ddw.org

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SOURCE Digestive Disease Week