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Drinking coffee may cut men's gallstone risk
In the study of 46,008 men aged 40 to 75 with no history of gallstone disease, men who regularly consumed coffee had a reduced risk of gallstone disease during 10 years of follow-up compared with men who did not drink coffee on a regular basis. Men who drank two to three cups of regular coffee per day had a 40% reduced risk of developing gallstone disease than non-Java drinkers, and those who drank four or more cups per day had a 45% lower risk. No such effect was observed with consumption of tea, decaffeinated coffee, or low-calorie caffeinated soft drinks, the investigators report. During the study, researchers identified 1,081 cases of symptomatic gallstone disease among the study participants, 885 of which required surgery to remove the gallbladder. Gallstones are solid lumps consisting of cholesterol, calcium salts or bile that form in the gallbladder. Small gallstones may have no symptoms, but large gallstones can block the opening of gall bladder, causing pain and inflammation. Gallstone disease affects 20 million Americans and is responsible for 800,000 hospitalizations each year, the study authors note. The team of researchers, led by Dr. Michael F. Leitzmann of the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, speculate that there are several ways in which coffee may reduce risk of gallstones, such as by encouraging the gallbladder to contract and empty. They note that their results are "most obviously generalizable to US men aged 40 years and older." "Further studies are needed to evaluate the apparent benefits of coffee consumption for preventing gallstone disease and to assess the potential therapeutic effects of coffee and individual coffee components on gallstone disease," Leitzmann and colleagues write. "Because the overall effect of coffee intake on health may vary considerably according to acute or chronic consumption, level of intake, source and type of coffee, methods of roasting and preparation of the brew, and the development of tolerance, clinical recommendations on coffee consumption should be based on the patients' individual health risks and benefits," they conclude.
SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association 1999, Copyright © Reuters Limited 1999
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