Coffee consumption associated with reduced risk of cirrhosis

British scientists from the University of Southampton conducted a statistical analysis of studies that summarized the health of almost half a million participants. It was found that drinking coffee significantly reduces the risk of cirrhosis of the liver - for example, two cups a day reduces the risk by 43%.

“There is basically no cure for cirrhosis, and it can be fatal,” explains Dr. Oliver Kennedy, head of research. “Therefore, a very important discovery is the fact that the development of cirrhosis can be reduced by using such an inexpensive and widespread beverage as coffee.”
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From cirrhosis, millions of people die every year. It can be caused by hepatitis, excessive use of alcohol, problems with the immune system, liver obesity.

Among the 430,000 people whose health was observed in the studied studies, there were about 2,000 patients with cirrhosis of the liver. It turned out that with an increase in the amount of coffee consumed the likelihood of cirrhosis decreases. Compared to non-coffee drinkers, one cup of coffee per day reduces the risk of cirrhosis by 22%, two by 43%, three by 57%, and four by 65%.

However, most studies have studied the effect of alcohol on the development of cirrhosis, and only a few of them - the influence of other factors, such as obesity. In addition, one study found that filtered coffee has a better effect on reducing the risk of cirrhosis than brewed.

Scientists warn that these studies do not allow people who systematically destroy the liver by excessive use of alcohol or fatty foods, to hope for the leveling of these effects by consuming large amounts of coffee. Firstly, it is not clear how drinking coffee can influence the development of cirrhosis. Secondly, coffee, although it contains various antioxidants and other beneficial substances, is not strong enough to eliminate the effects of a wrong lifestyle.

Liver cirrhosis is a serious fatal liver disease, accompanied by an irreversible change in the structure of the liver tissue. The cirrhotic liver is enlarged or reduced in size, unusually dense, lumpy, rough. Death occurs, depending on the type of the disease, within two to four years with severe pain and torment of the patient in the terminal stage of the disease.

In economically developed countries, cirrhosis is among the six leading causes of death for patients between 35 and 60 years old, amounting to 14-30 cases per 100 thousand population. Every year, 40 million people die from viral cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma that develops on the background of the hepatitis B virus. In the CIS countries, cirrhosis occurs in 1% of the population.