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                    Coffee May Protect Against Liver Disease

   by VOA News

   Coffee lovers have another reason to rejoice as a new study claims that
   regular consumption of the popular beverage can reduce the risk of a
   rare but serious liver disease.
   According to [1]research published by the Mayo Clinic, coffee intake
   can lower the chance of contracting primary sclerosing cholangitis
   (PSC), an autoimmune liver disease. The disease can lead to cirrhosis
   of the liver, liver failure and biliary cancer.
   "While rare, PSC has extremely detrimental effects," said the study's
   author, Dr. Craig Lammert, a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist. "We're
   always looking for ways to mitigate risk, and our first-time finding
   points to a novel environmental factor that also might help us to
   determine the cause of this and other devastating autoimmune diseases."
   The study monitored three groups of people, those with PSC, those with
   primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), another autoimmune liver disease, and
   a group of healthy patients. The data showed a reduced risk of PSC
   among coffee drinkers, but little effect on the PBC group.
   According to Dr. Konstantinos Lazaridis, a Mayo Clinic hepatologist and
   senior study author, the research also revealed more differences
   between PSC and PBC than originally thought.
   "Moving forward, we can look at what this finding might tell us about
   the causes of these diseases and how to better treat them," he said.
   The findings were being presented at the Digestive Disease Week 2013
   conference in Orlando, Fla.
   Previous studies have shown some benefits to regular, moderate coffee
   intake.
   A [2]study of coffee drinkers released late last year in Europe claimed
   moderate coffee intake could reduce the risk of diabetes by 25 percent,
   while a [3]Swedish study claimed coffee reduced the risk of developing
   breast cancer.
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   [4]http://www.voanews.com/content/coffee-may-protect-against-liver-dise
   ase/1664647.html

References

   1. http://http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2013-rst/7466.html
   2. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-12/esf-mcc120412.php
   3. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130425091345.htm
   4. http://www.voanews.com/content/coffee-may-protect-against-liver-disease/1664647.html