Coffee as a health drink?

I wonder if this applies to us heppers
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Coffee is not usually thought of as health food, but a number of recent studies suggest that it can be a highly beneficial drink. Researchers have found strong evidence that coffee reduces the risk of several serious ailments, including diabetes, heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/health/nutrition/15coff.html?ex=1156046400&en=508136bb4ecac6b8&ei=5087%0A

[mycoldfeet]

I heard that too, and having a cup as we speak, but more to wake up than anything else lol, I drink a lot of cokes durring the day too, but need that morning coffee. Have a great day scuba.

[ringading3]

hey scuba...think i got your name wrong, sorry for that if i did...
just yesterday on the news, the latest info contradicts all the recent good news i had read about coffee, now they are saying that those that drink 2 or 3 cups a day are more suceptible or prone to heart attacts, although, those that drink 8 or more cups a day, are less likely to be affected because they have a higher tolerance for the stimulant....i am SO confused with all the studies....wonder how many 'pots' of java the researchers went through while doing this study...hummmm....pondering...poundering....

ahhhh screw it anyways...i refuse to deprive this ol tired bod of mine that first morning cup of latte.....never i say...never!!

hey girlies!!!! chev/cutie...yah-yah's !!!! great to see you still hanging here....got your e mail chev...thanks sweetiepie
hugs to you both
kimmy

[cuteus]

we were just discussing the same thing at work yesterday. the study stated that "the increased risk revealed in the study was 'modest' and unlikely to raise the risk of heart disease significantly". adding that "cutting down on coffee is less likely to help people protect their heart health than other measures such as taking regular exercise and eating a healthy, balanced diet". coffee in moderation, which in their study is 4-5 cups daily is safe for the general population.
Then you can read the one from Medical news today that the risk depends if you have the genetic disposition, and are under 50. this gene activates the enzyme that breaks down CYP1A2.  and, because it annoys me that people don't read the full study and want to scare us about our coffee drinking (co workers) I went and found a study that found that decaf was bad!, from CBS news. This study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Assoc. Something about apoliprotein higher in the decaf group.
So, you can find a study to back anything you want. I stick with my coffee. Wait, let me take a sip of my triple latte...yum!

hey Kimmy! drink up and be merry!
Sorry about your horsey, is that the one that gave your hairdo that big, sloppy kiss? you still have the same email addy?

[NYgirl]

I drink a lot of coffee even though I KNOW right now caffeine isn't a good thing to have (dehydration factor) and so then I end up having to drink MORE water so I never stop peeing EVER it seems now!

Pretty soon I'll just use Depends and stop getting up so often hahahaha.

I CANT give up coffee or I'd have to give up work cause I'd never get out of bed...I am addicted!

[52TELE]

Scuba , I posted this a few days ago but couldn't find the post , here it is again for what its worth....

          Hepatitis C Articles (HCV)
    
Coffee Consumption May Protect Liver from Alcohol

  
  By Peggy Peck, Managing Editor, MedPage Today
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
June 12, 2006
www.medpage.com

......while this study suggests that coffee consumption is associated with a reduced risk of alcoholic cirrhosis, the observational nature of the data limits any attempt to establish a causal link.

.....In this study the benefit of coffee was seen only among those who were at risk for alcoholic cirrhosis.

Review
OAKLAND, Calif. June 12 - Coffee may help protect the livers of heavy alcohol drinkers.

In a cohort study of Kaiser Permanente members, drinking one to three cups of coffee a day was associated with a 40% decrease in the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis versus drinking less than one cup (P<0.001), according to a report in the June 13 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Moreover, Arthur L. Klatsky, M.D., and colleagues at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research wrote that this protective effect appears to be dose-dependent. Those who drank four or more cups of coffee had an 80% decrease in the relative risk of alcoholic cirrhosis (95% CI 0.1-0.4, P<0.001).

Among subgroups of patients with nonalcoholic cirrhosis, coffee had a similar, weak, nonstatistically significant inverse relation to risk of either viral hepatitis-associated cirrhosis or to miscellaneous other cirrhosis.

Tea drinking, on the other hand, was unrelated to the risk of either alcoholic or nonalcoholic cirrhosis.

Dr. Klatzky and colleagues studied data from 129,580 Kaiser Permanente members who completed baseline background health questionnaires and an alcohol questionnaire between 1978 and 1985. By 2001, 330 of these patients developed cirrhosis-199 were diagnosed with alcoholic cirrhosis and 131 with nonalcoholic cirrhosis.

Sixty-five percent of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and 54% of patients with non-alcoholic cirrhosis were men, and in both groups about half of the patients were 50 or younger.

The risk of cirrhosis, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, increased with age, male sex, and obesity, but education was protective-cirrhosis risk declined as years of education increased.

Among the findings:

* Coffee drinking was positively correlated with smoking and alcohol drinking.
* As expected mean blood levels of AST and ALT increased as alcohol consumption increased.
* In a cross-sectional analysis coffee drinking was inversely related to AST and ALT levels, people who drank four or more cups of coffee daily reduced the risk of elevated AST by 50% (95% CI, 0.4-0.6; P <0.001) and for elevated ALT by 40% (95% CI 0.6-0.7; P<0.001).

Additionally, the inverse relationship between liver enzyme elevations and coffee consumption was strongest among heavy drinkers.

The authors noted a number of limitations to their study, including the fact that smoking, drinking, and coffee consumption are often related habits, which makes it "difficult to rule out residual confounding by alcohol amount or drinking pattern." Nonetheless, they argued that smoking "may prolong the persistent of caffeine in the body. Thus, any residual confounding related to coffee drinking would tend to produce an inverse smoking-cirrhosis relation, not the positive one we obtained."

The study was also limited by its reliance on baseline ascertainment of habits and incomplete follow-up of the cohort.

Finally, the "observational nature of the data and the absence of an established mechanism limit a causal interpretation." The data suggested that the need for "research about hepatic coffee-ethanol interactions is warranted, but we should keep in mind that coffee might represent only one of a number of potential cirrhosis risk modulators."

Primary source: Archives of Internal Medicine Source reference: Klatsky, AL et al "Coffee, Cirrhosis, and Transaminase Enzymes" Arch Intern Med 2006;166:1190-1195  
  

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[FlGuy]

I think that coffee is a health drink in that if I didn't get my coffee in the morening I'd choke someone before lunch.

[azgrl]

I agree it is a health drink. It is also a plumbers drink.  Because if I didn't get my coffee in the morning I wouldn't be checking my toilet pipes to make sure they still work then I'd have to call the plumber to check and then I'd have to kill him when he hands me the bill.  So I agree it is best to just drink the coffee.

deb in az

[cuteus]

not so about the dehydration issue
"As for the oft-repeated warning that coffee dehydrates: It, too, is a myth. Like any fluid, coffee may send its fans to the bathroom frequently. But a major report issued last year by the U.S. government's Institute of Medicine concludes that the beverage quenches thirst as effectively as water and does not deplete body fluids."

this from yet another study I found on java addiction
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/051219/19coffee.htm

[Gonna beat it]

Starbucks Here I come! Haven't had my first cup yet!

[mycoldfeet]

thx for the info, not that I was going to stop, but now I don't have to feel guilty about it, being Catholic I carry enough around lol

[tulsatime]

I like the depends idea.Heehee I thought about installing a port a pottie in my room so I don't have to make that walk to the bathroom at night. LOL...

[52TELE]

If it werent for caffene , I wouldn't have any personality at all.

[Gonna beat it]

My husband has created his own theory about coffee drinking, he was not a coffee drinker than he said to me one day "Have you ever met anyone over eighty that didn't drink at least one cup of coffee a day?" I answered no, he started drinking a cup of coffee a day, maybe theres some truth to his thought....

[MissMiss]

I haven't had a cup of coffee in 48 weeks.  It was no problem to quit but after my last Riba this morning I have an inkling for some good coffee with some good chocolate swirled in and a bit of.....................

I'll be right back!  lol

miss

[DragonSlayer45]

I'm down with FLguy on this one. It is a health drink for everyone around me in the morning cuz I would kill somebody if they took my coffee away! Ask my wife, LOL

[curt S.]

I have frequent urination at nite. I read somewhere that people with hep c , since they have impaired liver function, have this because liquids are sent directly to the bladder.  Does anyone else have this problem...

[Kalio1]

No I didnt have that issue before but once I started drinking endless water while on treatment I sure do now.

I dont know how old you are but for men if this starts up and it wasnt that way before, you might want to see the doctor and have it heked out and have your prostate checked. Men as they age have various plumbing issues that can appear. It could be something other than Hep C causing it. Those of us with Hep C tend to blame any ailment on it and sometimes it is something else entirely. Then again maybe it is from Hep C who knows but you want to make sure you arent dealing with another issue.
Are you treating now? What are your stats? Welcome to the forum.

[curt S.]

Thanks for getting back to me,  I have had hep c for 10 plus years, about 5 years ago frequent Urination, but doctor says probably prostate, like you said.... I'm 41 and with the hep c and other problems It is troublesome, worried abit, no insurance, etc... wondering if i should get the free clinic to start me on interfuron...dont want liver damage, doctor said my liver is mildly swollen, does that mean scarred?

I guess I'm trying to figure out if things i have are related to hep c...

[Kalio1]

You might want to research "extra hepatic manifestations" there are a lot of symptoms and related problems that can be associated with Hep C. If you do have access to care without ins. I would be checked out thoroughly. Have you had a liver panel done recently? How about a biopsy? The only way to know if you have liver damage is getting a biopsy. There are other tests that can give clues that liver problems are advancing but they are not able to determine the level of damage if any. This is called the "silent killer" disease because it can be causing damage and the patient has no symptoms at all so I would encourage you to be seen and ascertain where you are health wise. In most cases it is a slow moving virus so dont panic but you want to have a CLEAR and certain idea of where you are on the progression spectrum especially if you have a swolen liver now. If you an get treated I would look into it if I were you. There are also patient assistance programs available so if you cant find affordable care locally then you could use a patient care program. I am on such a program called Commitment to Care. Their phone is 800 521 7157 and their application process is easy and they are nice. If you a get help locally thru the county or somewhere that might be the easiest for you.If that dooesnt work,or you ahve trouble with the costs once you have seen a doctor who will assist you with treating you can apply with these programs and they ship the drugs to you for free. Try to learn all you can about Hep C and treatment. This is a great forum to find info and leads to info about it. Most here are treating for it with interferon now or they have in the past or they are waiting on better drugs and have Hep C. Read all you can it slowly begins to sink in. It can be overwhelming at first so hang in there. I am treating for it now. See if you can find a doc or clinic that deals with a lot of Hep C patients, they will have the most current info regarding treatment protocols hopefully. Keep asking questions here, that helped me a lot. Take care, glad you found the forum and joined us. Another good place to look for info is Janis and Friends Hep C site, I dont have the website but you can find it if you google it. Be sure you dont drink alcohol it is like pouring fuel on the fire of Hep C.

[Bill1954]

Just saw your post. Kalio offered some excellent and hard-won advice to you above; I don't know what else to add at this point other than to consider the possibility of diabetes. This is a good time to underscore Kalio's words above: "... Those of us with Hep C tend to blame any ailment on it and sometimes it is something else entirely. Then again maybe it is from Hep C who knows but you want to make sure you aren't dealing with another issue...". Very wise words, make sure to pay attention to them.

A gal in a local hep C support group here in town was attending meetings and was complaining of breathing difficulties while undergoing interferon treatment. This is a common issue with many that undergo HCV treatment, and is caused by low hemoglobin counts. For the most part, it self-corrects upon completion of treatment. She was told by her medical team not to worry, and was administered a drug to help correct the problem. The issue persisted, and low and behold, she was eventually diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. My point here is that just because you have HCV, don't dismiss other complications.

Frequent urination, especially at night while sleeping, can be a sign of many things, but an easy one to diagnose is type 2 diabetes. Also known as "adult onset diabetes", it can affect people as they age. At 41, you could be a candidate. Are you overweight/obese? Does anyone in your family have it? If your curious, have your doctor (or a diabetic friend) check your blood sugar with a finger-***** test. For best results, fast for 8-10 hours before the test. You'd like to see the results between 70 and 120 mg/dl. Do this several times or have the test done at a lab for better accuracy. I'm not trying to scare you, it's just something to consider. The prostate is something else to monitor, but I believe that most people experience  difficulty getting a stream started, which is opposite what you've described.

Best of luck to you, and keep us posted,

Bill
.

[Kalio1]

Good luck Curt. One thing I want to mention is you have to have a supervising doctor for them to send the drugs but you can prequalify so you know you are all set and then get a clinic doctor to oversee your care. Stay positive! Please come back here if you have questions or just need to talk to others fighting this disease and going thru what you are. There is a lot of stigma around this illness in the world unfortunately but not here! Hep C is the NUMBER ONE reason for liver transplants in the US today and the number 3 cause of death in the US overall of those in the 40-65 age category so I am glad you are confronting your illness and that you have conquered your denial. It takes a lot of courage to do that. Please keep us posted as to your progress.

[curt S.]

thanks again kalio,,,, i think i might have been in a bit of denial....ignoring it,,,, but i think i should get the interfuron.... why wait.... I will call the number you gave... and ck back in thankyou

[copyman]

got this off another website. seems frequent urination is a sx of hcv:

Fluid Retention: Fluid retention occurs when your body holds on to more water than it needs. The extra water leaks into the tissues. If you have fluid retention, you may notice swelling of your feet, ankles, fingers, and/or face. People with fluid retention often have frequent urination, especially at night.