Wake Up And.....

Chronic liver disease is the third leading cause of death in the UK. There is said to have been a 400% rise in its incidence since 1970. One must note, however, that willingness to return a diagnosis of liver failure, may have increased in recent times. A study, based on almost half a million participants of the UK Biobank, has now produced evidence, suggesting coffee drinking reduces the risk of liver disease (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jun/22/drinking-coffee-may-cut-risk-of-chronic-liver-disease-study-suggests). The Biobank collected data over an extended period on lifestyle and health of its partipants. The group selected for the study were between 40 and 69 and their liver health had been tracked for more than 10 years. About 75% were coffee drinkers. The study corrected for possible effects of Body Mass Index, alcohol consumption and smoking on liver health. When doing so, the analysts found that the coffee drinkers were 20% less likely to develop chronic liver disease than their non-coffee drinking counterparts. Strikingly, they were 49% less likely to die from this condition. I must go and boil a kettle!