COFFEE AND LIVER CIRRHOSIS
Two studies, each on the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program cohort in California, originally demonstrated that coffee drinking might protect against liver cirrhosis. In the first study, 59 cases of liver cirrhosis were diagnosed and it was shown that subjects who drank four or more cups of coffee per day had 80% less chance of developing liver cirrhosis than non-coffee drinkers (1). In the second study, it was reported that coffee drinkers had 23% less chance of dying from liver cirrhosis than non-coffee drinkers (2). A third cohort study of 51,306 Norwegian adults which diagnosed 53 case of liver cirrhosis showed inverse associations between total and alcoholic liver cirrhosis mortality and coffee consumption (3).
The results of these two prospective cohort studies have since been confirmed by the results of three retrospective case control studies. An Italian study of 115 cases of liver cirrhosis showed an inverse association between coffee consumption and disease risk as well as an inverse association of coffee consumption with alcohol-related cirrhosis risk (4). A larger Italian study of 274 cases and 458 controls reported an 84% lower risk of developing liver cirrhosis in subjects who drank four or more cups of coffee per day (5). Finally, a third Italian study of 101 cases and 1538 controls showed a 71% lower risk of developing liver cirrhosis in subjects drinking three or more cups of coffee (6).
The two striking features of the results of these six studies are their consistency and the very large reductions in disease risk observed.
A study of over 125,000 people (7) published in 2006 found a robust inverse relation of coffee drinking to risk of alcoholic cirrhosis, independent of sveral confounders. In contrast, this study found no statistically significant relation of coffee drinking and non-alcoholic cirrhosis.
References:
1. Klatsky, A.L. and Armstrong, M.A. American Journal of Epidemiology, 136, 1248-1257, 1992.
2. Klatsky, A.L. et al. Annals of Epidemiology, 3, 375-381, 1993.
3. Tverdal, A. and Skurtveit, S. Annals of Epidemiology, 13, 419-423, 2003.
4. Corrao, G. et al. European Journal of Epidemiology, 10, 657-664, 1994.
5. Corrao, G. et al. Annals of Epidemiology, 11, 458-465, 2001.
6. Gallus, S. et al. Annals of Epidemiology, 12, 202-205, 2002.7. Klastsky,A.L. et al. Archives of Internal Medicine, Volume 166, 2006.