Medscape Article - Coffee Reducing Gallstone Disease

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Hi all --

Came across another interesting article I thought the group would be

interested in. I'm including the entire article to avoid problems with those

interested not being able to enter a Medscape link.

Bobbie

Anchorage

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Coffee Reduces Symptomatic Gallstone Disease in Women

Reuters Health Information 2002. © 2002 Reuters Ltd.

" It appears that caffeine may be the protective ingredient in coffee that is

responsible for the decreased risk of gallstone disease among coffee

drinkers, " lead author, Dr. F. Leitzmann from the National Cancer

Institute, Bethesda, land, commented in a press statement.

" There is experimental evidence from other studies showing that caffeine

leads to gallbladder contractions, which could theoretically help prevent the

formation of gallstones in the gallbladder, " he added.

Dr. Leitzmann and colleagues collected data on 80,898 women who participated

in the Nurses Health Study. These women were 34 to 59 years of age and free

from gallstone disease in 1980. The women reported their coffee consumption

and whether they had undergone cholecystectomy over 20 years by responding to

biennial questionnaires.

During follow-up, 7811 women reported a cholecystectomy, the researchers

report. For women who reported consuming 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 or more cups of c

affeinated coffee per day the relative risks of cholecystectomy were 1.0,

0.91, 0.78 and 0.72, respectively, compared with women who did not drink

caffeinated coffee (p < 0.001 for trend), Dr. Leitzmann's team found.

They report that increased caffeine intake from other drinks was also

associated with a reduced risk of cholecystectomy. For caffeine intake, the

relative risk for cholecystectomy ranged from 1.0 for 25 mg/day or less to

0.85 for a daily caffeine intake of more than 800 mg, the researchers note.

(A cup of coffee has between 50 and 150 mg of caffeine, depending how it is

prepared). Decaffeinated coffee was not associated with risk for

cholecystectomy, they add.

These findings in women confirm similar findings in men, according to the

results of a study conducted by the same research team. (see Reuters Health

report June 9, 1999)

" Women should not start drinking coffee just to prevent gallstone disease, "

Dr. Leitzmann said. " However, if a women already happens to be a coffee

drinker, our study suggests that it is okay for her to continue drinking

coffee in terms of her risk of gallstone disease. "

Gastroenterology 2002;123:1823-1830.