Alternative Medicines
Drinking Coffee Slows Progression Of Liver Disease In Chronic Hepatitis C Sufferers, According To a New Study
Patients with chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease who drink three or more cups of coffee per day have a 53% lower risk of liver disease progression than non-coffee drinkers according to a new study from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
The study found that patients with hepatitis C-related bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis who did not respond to standard disease treatment benefited from increased coffee intake. An effect on liver disease was not observed in patients who drank black or green tea.
Findings of the study appear in the November issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects approximately 2.2% of the world's population with more than 3 million Americans infected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites HCV as the leading cause of liver transplantation in the U.S. and accounts for 8,000 to 10,000 deaths in the country annually. Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 3 to 4 million persons contract HCV each year with 70% becoming chronic cases that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer.
This study included 766 participants enrolled in the Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) trial who had hepatitis C-related bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis and failed to respond to standard treatment of the anti-viral drugs peginterferon and ribavirin. At the onset of the study, HALT-C patients were asked to report their typical frequency of coffee intake and portion size over the past year, using 9 frequency categories ranging from 'never' to 'every day' and 4 categories of portion size (1 cup, 2 cups, 3-4 cups, and 5+ cups). A similar question was asked for black and green tea intake. This study is the first to address the association between liver disease progression related to hepatitis C and coffee intake.
Participants were seen every 3 months during the 3.8-year study period to assess clinical outcomes which included: ascites (abnormal accumulation of fluid in the abdomen), prognosis of chronic liver disease, death related to liver disease, hepatic encephalopathy (brain and nervous system damage), hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer), spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, variceal hemorrhage, or increase in fibrosis. Liver biopsies were also taken at 1.5 and 3.5 five years to determine the progression of liver disease.
Results showed that participants who drank 3 or more cups of coffee per day had a relative risk of .47 for reaching one of the clinical outcomes. Researchers did not observe any association between tea intake and liver disease progression, though tea consumption was low in the study.
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Walnuts Can Cut Cholesterol, Report Harvard Researchers
A Meta-Analysis of Walnuts by Harvard Scientists Has Found Diets Rich in Walnuts Can Significantly Reduce Cholesterol Levels, Supporting Growing Evidence to Suggest These Popular Nuts Can Improve Healthy Blood Lipid Ratios.
However the scientists suggested that larger and longer-term trials are needed to observe the effects of eating walnuts, rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, on cardiovascular risk and weight management.
Their analysis joins an ever- expanding body of science that has linked nut consumption - including almonds and macadamias - to improvements in cardiovascular health.
Coronary heart disease places a significant financial burden throughout the world, more and more each year. Governments, scientists and the food industry continue to invest time and money in pinpointing potential dietary solutions that could improve cardiovascular health.
Published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Harvard researchers conducted the meta-analysis to estimate the effect of walnuts on blood lipids. Literature databases were searched for published trials that compared a specifically walnut-enhanced diet with a control diet.
"We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis of weighted mean differences of lipid outcomes," said the scientists.
The 13 studies selected represented some 365 participants, with diets lasting between four and 24 weeks and walnuts providing between 10 and 24 per cent of total calories.
When compared with control diets, diets supplemented with walnuts resulted in a significantly greater decrease in total cholesterol and in LDL-cholesterol concentrations, the Harvard researchers reported.
Further, the meta-analysis results suggested a wide range of potential health benefits contained in walnuts.
"Other results reported in the trials indicated that walnuts provided significant benefits for certain antioxidant capacity and inflammatory markers and had no adverse effects on body weight," stated the researchers.
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition May 2009, Volume 90, Pages 56-63, "Effects of walnut consumption on blood lipids and other cardiovascular risk factors: a meta-analysis and systematic review"
