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Caffeine
I've seen stuff on this forum about how caffeine is okay for your liver and researched also said it can help protect your liver. My specialist told me to drink NO caffeine not even decaf because it still has some caffeine in it. Can or drink caffeine? And if not why?
On a lighter note a recent study suggests that drinking 3 or more cups of coffee a day significantly increases SVR rates with standard anti-viral therapy20. If confirmed this may offer an additional, low cost, method of boosting viral clearance rates.
This is from the Irish medical journal sept 2011.
Though curious is it the caffeine, coffee itself, what kind of coffee? It doesn't seem like a very well researched issue but signs point to coffee is a good thing. Though I try to avoid it on blood draw days as I get vasal constricted making it harder to find a vein.
This is from the Irish medical journal sept 2011.
Though curious is it the caffeine, coffee itself, what kind of coffee? It doesn't seem like a very well researched issue but signs point to coffee is a good thing. Though I try to avoid it on blood draw days as I get vasal constricted making it harder to find a vein.
So I met with primary today and she told me that specialist may be saying no caffeine because of the acid in it but not sure ab correlation with HCV.she also did a referral for new GI specialist and will ask him ab caffeine as well. She did say to hold off with it until I know for sure and to def print out study and articles saying otherwise. Will keep everyone updated.
Ok so I think ill be buying myself a nice hot cup of black coffee tomorrow! I do not have high blood pressure, never have and the only issues I have are fatty liver disease (from bring overweight) and hepc. So no reason I shouldn't drink coffee(only caffeine I drink). Will be printing a few articles out for doc and talking with her more ab this! Thanks everyone. I'm glad I can enjoy my am cup o' joe :)
Coffee makes me kindly nervous when I drink it, mmm-hmmm, I do like them french fried pataters, though.
I started drinking coffee with my victrelis treatment. Even the nurse at the victrelis hotline and the studies I read said it seems to help. They don't know why, but the coffee drinkers do better. I'm a previous nonresponder so if it might help I'll try it. I still had a million VL at 4 weeks and undected at 12. I hate coffee and when this is over so is the coffee. I do my 18th dart tonite out of 32!
"In the interim I differ with the poster above in that I’d avoid anything your doctor advises against until you go over it with him/her. Who knows, you might teach the doc something :o)? "
:)
:)
You really never know on a public forum what other medical issues may exist with the person posting besides the hepc. If someone says their doctor told them to avoid caffeine, even decaffeinated drinks and all we really know is they have NASH, hepc and are overweight that advice from a doctor doesn't seem merited. Assuming there are no other problems which may be effected by caffeine I don't find it unreasonable to say the doctor's orders may stem from lack of knowledge and avoidance of caffeine in journey's case is unnecessary. Further clarification is needed from the doctor.
My nurse told me if I was going to continue to drink coffee, I'd have to drink even more water, and I do.
The dehydrating properties of coffee and our need to consume lots of fluid may be why many doctors say not to do it while on tx. They aren't all up on the latest research.
The dehydrating properties of coffee and our need to consume lots of fluid may be why many doctors say not to do it while on tx. They aren't all up on the latest research.
http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/2011/0621_2011_a.html
Drinking more coffee -- but not tea -- was associated with greater likelihood of response to hepatitis C treatment with pegylated interferon/ribavirin in the HALT-C study.
By Liz Highleyman
Over years or decades, chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can progress to severe liver disease including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. A number of previous studies have found that higher consumption of caffeine or coffee specifically is associated with improved liver health and slower disease progression, but its relationship to hepatitis C treatment response is not fully understood.
As described in the June 2011 issue of Gastroenterology, Neal Freedman from the National Cancer Institute and colleagues looked at the relationship between coffee consumption and treatment response in the HALT-C (Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment against Cirrhosis) trial, which was designed to show whether long-term pegylated interferon maintenance therapy could reduce the risk of liver disease progression in non-responders.
The analysis included 885 participants with bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis (Ishak stage F3-F6) who did not achieve sustained response to prior antiviral therapy. In the HALT-C lead-in phase, they were re-treated with 180 mcg/week pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys) plus 1000-1200 mg/day weight-adjusted ribavirin. At week 24, non-responders were randomly assigned to either discontinue treatment or continue on low dose (90 mcg/week) pegylated interferon monotherapy.
Based on food questionnaires, the researchers recorded participants' coffee consumption during the past year before re-treatment, categorizing it as none, < 1 cup per day, 1 to 3 cups vs none;
Week 20 response: odds ratio 2.1;
End-of-treatment response: odds ratio 2.4;
Sustained virologic response: odds ratio 1.8.
Response rates were significantly higher for heavy coffee consumers compared with non-drinkers at all time points:
Early virologic response: 76% vs 46%, respectively;
Week 20 response: 52% vs 26%, respectively;
Sustained virologic response: 26% vs 11%, respectively.
These findings led the researchers to conclude, "High-level consumption of coffee (more than 3 cups per day) is an independent predictor of improved virologic response to peginterferon plus ribavirin in patients with hepatitis C."
"Coffee has > 1000 compounds, any one of which could be involved in virologic response," they explained in their discussion. "One major constituent of coffee is caffeine. Although we could not distinguish caffeinated from decaffeinated coffee in our study, we found no association with consumption of black or green tea."
"It is unlikely that coffee and its constituents have a direct antiviral effect," they continued. "If so, HCV RNA levels at baseline would have been expected to be lower with greater coffee consumption. In fact, baseline levels were actually higher with greater consumption. More likely coffee would have a facilitating effect on response to peginterferon and ribavirin treatment by a mechanism yet to be understood."
Investigator affiliations: Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD; New England Research Institutes, Watertown, MA; Office of the Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD; Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD.
6/21/11
Drinking more coffee -- but not tea -- was associated with greater likelihood of response to hepatitis C treatment with pegylated interferon/ribavirin in the HALT-C study.
By Liz Highleyman
Over years or decades, chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can progress to severe liver disease including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. A number of previous studies have found that higher consumption of caffeine or coffee specifically is associated with improved liver health and slower disease progression, but its relationship to hepatitis C treatment response is not fully understood.
As described in the June 2011 issue of Gastroenterology, Neal Freedman from the National Cancer Institute and colleagues looked at the relationship between coffee consumption and treatment response in the HALT-C (Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment against Cirrhosis) trial, which was designed to show whether long-term pegylated interferon maintenance therapy could reduce the risk of liver disease progression in non-responders.
The analysis included 885 participants with bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis (Ishak stage F3-F6) who did not achieve sustained response to prior antiviral therapy. In the HALT-C lead-in phase, they were re-treated with 180 mcg/week pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys) plus 1000-1200 mg/day weight-adjusted ribavirin. At week 24, non-responders were randomly assigned to either discontinue treatment or continue on low dose (90 mcg/week) pegylated interferon monotherapy.
Based on food questionnaires, the researchers recorded participants' coffee consumption during the past year before re-treatment, categorizing it as none, < 1 cup per day, 1 to 3 cups vs none;
Week 20 response: odds ratio 2.1;
End-of-treatment response: odds ratio 2.4;
Sustained virologic response: odds ratio 1.8.
Response rates were significantly higher for heavy coffee consumers compared with non-drinkers at all time points:
Early virologic response: 76% vs 46%, respectively;
Week 20 response: 52% vs 26%, respectively;
Sustained virologic response: 26% vs 11%, respectively.
These findings led the researchers to conclude, "High-level consumption of coffee (more than 3 cups per day) is an independent predictor of improved virologic response to peginterferon plus ribavirin in patients with hepatitis C."
"Coffee has > 1000 compounds, any one of which could be involved in virologic response," they explained in their discussion. "One major constituent of coffee is caffeine. Although we could not distinguish caffeinated from decaffeinated coffee in our study, we found no association with consumption of black or green tea."
"It is unlikely that coffee and its constituents have a direct antiviral effect," they continued. "If so, HCV RNA levels at baseline would have been expected to be lower with greater coffee consumption. In fact, baseline levels were actually higher with greater consumption. More likely coffee would have a facilitating effect on response to peginterferon and ribavirin treatment by a mechanism yet to be understood."
Investigator affiliations: Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD; New England Research Institutes, Watertown, MA; Office of the Director, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD; Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD.
6/21/11
Doctors generally respond to data from peer reviewed, published studies. Here’s a link to a number of studies that discuss this subject. You might review these and print out one or two that are relevant to your situation, and discuss them with your treatment MD:
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=000772985894926410863%3Awvp_6dwxpvm&cof=FORID%3A0&q=coffee%2C+fibrosis&sa=Search#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=coffee%2C%20fibrosis&gsc.page=1
In the interim I differ with the poster above in that I’d avoid anything your doctor advises against until you go over it with him/her. Who knows, you might teach the doc something :o)?
--Bill
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=000772985894926410863%3Awvp_6dwxpvm&cof=FORID%3A0&q=coffee%2C+fibrosis&sa=Search#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=coffee%2C%20fibrosis&gsc.page=1
In the interim I differ with the poster above in that I’d avoid anything your doctor advises against until you go over it with him/her. Who knows, you might teach the doc something :o)?
--Bill
Do you have high blood pressure? Caffeine can raise blood pressure. Actually, studies show those who have fatty liver benefit from caffeine. Coffee caffeine consumption is associated with a significant reduction in risk of fibrosis among NASH patients. Drinking coffee may help prevent diabetes as caffeine may be the ingredient largely responsible for this effect.
Looks like you will be changing doctors. I'd discuss it with your new doctor but would not avoid caffeine in the interim unless of course there is a medical reason for it.
Looks like you will be changing doctors. I'd discuss it with your new doctor but would not avoid caffeine in the interim unless of course there is a medical reason for it.
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