Drinking coffee is linked with reduced liver fibrosis among people with hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), HIVandHepatitis.com reports. Researchers collected data on coffee and alcohol consumption among 1,130 people between May 2012 and November 2013, including 529 people with HBV, 434 with HCV and 167 with NAFLD.

Results were presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in San Francisco.

Most of the study participants were coffee drinkers. The median consumption was 1 cup per day, and the top figure was 20 daily cups.  Seventy-two percent of the coffee drinkers drank instant coffee, 24 percent drank espresso, and about 1 to 2 percent drank filtered, boiled or decaf coffee. On average, participants consumed about 5 grams of alcohol a day.

The median liver stiffness score among the participants was 6.1 kilopascals, which indicates mild fibrosis. The median scores for people with hep B, hep C and NAFLD were a respective 5.3, 7.1 and 7.4 kPa.

After adjusting for various factors, the researchers found that people with hep C who drank two or more daily cups of coffee had a 13 percent reduced liver stiffness. People with hep B and NAFLD who consumed four or more cups of coffee daily had a respective 18 and 24 percent reduction in liver stiffness.

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