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Which is more harmful " Cigerratte or Coffee " ?
I would like to know what is more harmful Cigerrate or Coffee it taken in same quantity.
I didn't read all the post above, just saw yours about Timothy. IMO, that’s just crazy!
My brother in law, just dx'd with Hep C, has diabetes, pancreatitits (sp?), 2 by pass’s .
He goes to VA. Him and my sister (8 yrs. Off and on chemo, incurable cancer) both smoke pot. Helps them, neither would ever eat! The VA will not do a bx or follow up on his Hep C as he tested for pot! Hasn't drank in 8 years. (he shows many signs of cirrhosis). Said he has to test clean for 6 mths. to even get a bx. To me, that’s absurd!
I can understand not treating a person that is still drinking-making them quit first-but to not even let him know where he is at in this is inhumane ! His health deteriorates daily, his mind also! My sister is wanting to 911 him, hoping just to get him into the hospital to get the bx. I am trying to get him into liver clinic at Shands (no insurance now, due to years of both their health issues).
The man fought for our country, yet he smokes pot so is turned away. As my sister said….. “why am I not thrown out of chemo for cancer because I smoke pot?”
I better not get started here, I’ll go on and on and on!
LL
My brother in law, just dx'd with Hep C, has diabetes, pancreatitits (sp?), 2 by pass’s .
He goes to VA. Him and my sister (8 yrs. Off and on chemo, incurable cancer) both smoke pot. Helps them, neither would ever eat! The VA will not do a bx or follow up on his Hep C as he tested for pot! Hasn't drank in 8 years. (he shows many signs of cirrhosis). Said he has to test clean for 6 mths. to even get a bx. To me, that’s absurd!
I can understand not treating a person that is still drinking-making them quit first-but to not even let him know where he is at in this is inhumane ! His health deteriorates daily, his mind also! My sister is wanting to 911 him, hoping just to get him into the hospital to get the bx. I am trying to get him into liver clinic at Shands (no insurance now, due to years of both their health issues).
The man fought for our country, yet he smokes pot so is turned away. As my sister said….. “why am I not thrown out of chemo for cancer because I smoke pot?”
I better not get started here, I’ll go on and on and on!
LL
Just horrible about Timothy,,, I saw his pic in the paper and I was so saddened by the US's so called health care, We have got to get some kind of universal health care, its just not right that the rich, the insured are the only ones to benefit. My insurance is ridiculous although it is better than nothing, and it will be nothing in 2 more months when it runs out. Its not right that the insurance companies can call the shots.
Gawd "things" have got to change in this country.
Gawd "things" have got to change in this country.
.....Cigarettes are bad, bad, bad. But don't anybody touch my coffee pot. That will be a fight.:............
LOL. Me, 1 man, cigs, coffee on an Island...pick one....well, I know the mans out :)
Cigs are the ONLY thing I want OUT of my life :( Awful habit/addiction. My only addiction ever! I'm a 'health nut', organic food, even organic sheets! Yet these things I haven't been able to quit (and all to be 'cool' 30 yrs. ago!) I WILL win one day...soon!
Good info. here, going to re-read, over and over to sink into my brain!
LL
LOL. Me, 1 man, cigs, coffee on an Island...pick one....well, I know the mans out :)
Cigs are the ONLY thing I want OUT of my life :( Awful habit/addiction. My only addiction ever! I'm a 'health nut', organic food, even organic sheets! Yet these things I haven't been able to quit (and all to be 'cool' 30 yrs. ago!) I WILL win one day...soon!
Good info. here, going to re-read, over and over to sink into my brain!
LL
Has Anyone seen this?
After reading the article I don't think pot smoking causes damage to the liver. Several doctors have indicated this in this article.
,Apr 28, 2008 07:31PM
By Gene Johnson
The Associated Press
SEATTLE, April 26, 2008
(AP) Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant.
His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.
But Garon's been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons.
"I'm not angry, I'm not mad, I'm just confused," said Garon, lying in his hospital bed a few minutes after a doctor told him the hospital transplant committee's decision Thursday.
With the scarcity of donated organs, transplant committees like the one at the University of Washington Medical Center use tough standards, including whether the candidate has other serious health problems or is likely to drink or do drugs.
And with cases like Garon's, they also have to consider -- as a dozen states now have medical marijuana laws -- if using dope with a doctor's blessing should be held against a dying patient in need of a transplant.
Most transplant centers struggle with the how to deal with people who have used marijuana, said Dr. Robert Sade, director of the Institute of Human Values in Health Care at the Medical University of South Carolina.
"Marijuana, unlike alcohol, has no direct effect on the liver. It is however a concern ... in that it's a potential indicator of an addictive personality," Sade said.
The Virginia-based United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation's transplant system, leaves it to individual hospitals to develop criteria for transplant candidates.
At some, people who use "illicit substances" -- including medical marijuana, even in states that allow it -- are automatically rejected. At others, such as the UCLA Medical Center, patients are given a chance to reapply if they stay clean for six months. Marijuana is illegal under federal law.
Garon believes he got hepatitis by sharing needles with "speed freaks" as a teenager. In recent years, he said, pot has been the only drug he's used. In December, he was arrested for growing marijuana.
Garon, who has been hospitalized or in hospice care for two months straight, said he turned to the university hospital after Seattle's Harborview Medical Center told him he needed six months of abstinence.
The university also denied him, but said it would reconsider if he enrolled in a 60-day drug-treatment program. This week, at the urging of Garon's lawyer, the university's transplant team reconsidered anyway, but it stuck to its decision.
Dr. Brad Roter, the Seattle physician who authorized Garon's pot use for nausea, abdominal pain and to stimulate his appetite, said he did not know it would be such a hurdle if Garon were to need a transplant.
That's typically the case, said Peggy Stewart, a clinical social worker on the liver transplant team at UCLA who has researched the issue. "There needs to be some kind of national eligibility criteria," she said.
The patients "are trusting their physician to do the right thing. The physician prescribes marijuana, they take the marijuana, and they are shocked that this is now the end result," she said.
No one tracks how many patients are denied transplants over medical marijuana use.
Pro-marijuana groups have cited a handful of cases, including at least two patient deaths, in Oregon and California, since the mid-to-late 1990s, when states began adopting medical marijuana laws.
Many doctors agree that using marijuana -- smoking it, especially -- is out of the question post-transplant.
The drugs patients take to help their bodies accept a new organ increase the risk of aspergillosis, a frequently fatal infection caused by a common mold found in marijuana and tobacco.
But there's little information on whether using marijuana is a problem before the transplant, said Dr. Emily Blumbrg, an infectious disease specialist who works with transplant patients at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital.
Further complicating matters, Blumberg said, is that some insurers require proof of abstinence, such as drug tests, before they'll agree to pay for transplants.
Dr. Jorge Reyes, a liver transplant surgeon at the UW Medical Center, said that while medical marijuana use isn't in itself a sign of substance abuse, it must be evaluated in the context of each patient.
"The concern is that patients who have been using it will not be able to stop," Reyes said.
Dale Gieringer, state coordinator for the California chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, scoffed at that notion.
"Everyone agrees that marijuana is the least habit-forming of all the recreational drugs, including alcohol," Gieringer said. "And unlike a lot of prescription medications, it's nontoxic to the liver."
Reyes and other UW officials declined to discuss Garon's case.
But Reyes said that in addition to medical concerns, transplant committees -- which often include surgeons, social workers, and nutritionists -- must evaluate whether patients have the support and psychiatric health to cope with a complex post-operative regimen for the rest of their lives.
Garon, the lead singer for Nearly Dan, a Steely Dan cover-band, remains charged with manufacturing weed. He insists he was following the state law, which limits patients to a "60-day supply" but doesn't define that amount.
"He's just a fantastic musician, and he's a great guy," said his girlfriend, Liesa Bueno. "I wish there was something we could do legally. ... I'm going to miss him terribly if he passes."
After reading the article I don't think pot smoking causes damage to the liver. Several doctors have indicated this in this article.
,Apr 28, 2008 07:31PM
By Gene Johnson
The Associated Press
SEATTLE, April 26, 2008
(AP) Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant.
His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.
But Garon's been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons.
"I'm not angry, I'm not mad, I'm just confused," said Garon, lying in his hospital bed a few minutes after a doctor told him the hospital transplant committee's decision Thursday.
With the scarcity of donated organs, transplant committees like the one at the University of Washington Medical Center use tough standards, including whether the candidate has other serious health problems or is likely to drink or do drugs.
And with cases like Garon's, they also have to consider -- as a dozen states now have medical marijuana laws -- if using dope with a doctor's blessing should be held against a dying patient in need of a transplant.
Most transplant centers struggle with the how to deal with people who have used marijuana, said Dr. Robert Sade, director of the Institute of Human Values in Health Care at the Medical University of South Carolina.
"Marijuana, unlike alcohol, has no direct effect on the liver. It is however a concern ... in that it's a potential indicator of an addictive personality," Sade said.
The Virginia-based United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation's transplant system, leaves it to individual hospitals to develop criteria for transplant candidates.
At some, people who use "illicit substances" -- including medical marijuana, even in states that allow it -- are automatically rejected. At others, such as the UCLA Medical Center, patients are given a chance to reapply if they stay clean for six months. Marijuana is illegal under federal law.
Garon believes he got hepatitis by sharing needles with "speed freaks" as a teenager. In recent years, he said, pot has been the only drug he's used. In December, he was arrested for growing marijuana.
Garon, who has been hospitalized or in hospice care for two months straight, said he turned to the university hospital after Seattle's Harborview Medical Center told him he needed six months of abstinence.
The university also denied him, but said it would reconsider if he enrolled in a 60-day drug-treatment program. This week, at the urging of Garon's lawyer, the university's transplant team reconsidered anyway, but it stuck to its decision.
Dr. Brad Roter, the Seattle physician who authorized Garon's pot use for nausea, abdominal pain and to stimulate his appetite, said he did not know it would be such a hurdle if Garon were to need a transplant.
That's typically the case, said Peggy Stewart, a clinical social worker on the liver transplant team at UCLA who has researched the issue. "There needs to be some kind of national eligibility criteria," she said.
The patients "are trusting their physician to do the right thing. The physician prescribes marijuana, they take the marijuana, and they are shocked that this is now the end result," she said.
No one tracks how many patients are denied transplants over medical marijuana use.
Pro-marijuana groups have cited a handful of cases, including at least two patient deaths, in Oregon and California, since the mid-to-late 1990s, when states began adopting medical marijuana laws.
Many doctors agree that using marijuana -- smoking it, especially -- is out of the question post-transplant.
The drugs patients take to help their bodies accept a new organ increase the risk of aspergillosis, a frequently fatal infection caused by a common mold found in marijuana and tobacco.
But there's little information on whether using marijuana is a problem before the transplant, said Dr. Emily Blumbrg, an infectious disease specialist who works with transplant patients at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital.
Further complicating matters, Blumberg said, is that some insurers require proof of abstinence, such as drug tests, before they'll agree to pay for transplants.
Dr. Jorge Reyes, a liver transplant surgeon at the UW Medical Center, said that while medical marijuana use isn't in itself a sign of substance abuse, it must be evaluated in the context of each patient.
"The concern is that patients who have been using it will not be able to stop," Reyes said.
Dale Gieringer, state coordinator for the California chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, scoffed at that notion.
"Everyone agrees that marijuana is the least habit-forming of all the recreational drugs, including alcohol," Gieringer said. "And unlike a lot of prescription medications, it's nontoxic to the liver."
Reyes and other UW officials declined to discuss Garon's case.
But Reyes said that in addition to medical concerns, transplant committees -- which often include surgeons, social workers, and nutritionists -- must evaluate whether patients have the support and psychiatric health to cope with a complex post-operative regimen for the rest of their lives.
Garon, the lead singer for Nearly Dan, a Steely Dan cover-band, remains charged with manufacturing weed. He insists he was following the state law, which limits patients to a "60-day supply" but doesn't define that amount.
"He's just a fantastic musician, and he's a great guy," said his girlfriend, Liesa Bueno. "I wish there was something we could do legally. ... I'm going to miss him terribly if he passes."
Discover the results of a recent study in Italy that examined the relationship between coffee consumption and the risk of liver cancer, as well as the favorable effects of some of coffee's components.
Coffee and liver cancer
Medical Studies/Trials
Published: Sunday, 5-Aug-2007
www.news-medical.net
After lung and stomach cancer, liver cancer is the third largest cause of cancer deaths in the world.
A new study on the relationship between coffee drinking and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) confirmed that there is an inverse association between coffee consumption and HCC, although the reasons for this relationship are still unresolved.
The results of this study appear in the August 2007 issue of Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hepatology is available online via Wiley InterScience at http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/hepatology.
At least eleven studies conducted in southern Europe and Japan have examined the relationship between coffee drinking and the risk of primary liver cancer. The current study, led by Francesca Bravi of the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri in Milan, Italy, was a meta-analysis of published studies on HCC that included how much coffee patients had consumed. Researchers combined all published data to obtain an overall quantitative estimate of the association between coffee consumption and HCC.
The results showed a 41 percent reduction of HCC risk among coffee drinkers compared to those who never drank coffee. "Moreover, the apparent favorable effect of coffee drinking was found both in studies from southern Europe, where coffee is widely consumed, and from Japan, where coffee consumption is less frequent, and in subjects with chronic liver diseases," the researchers state.
They point out that animal and laboratory studies have indicated that certain compounds found in coffee may act as blocking agents by reacting with enzymes involved in carcinogenic detoxification. Other components, including caffeine, have been shown to have favorable effects on liver enzymes. Coffee has also been related to a reduced risk of liver diseases and cirrhosis, which can lead to liver cancer.
"Despite the consistency of these results, it is difficult to derive a causal inference on the basis of the observational studies alone," the authors note. It may be that patients with digestive tract diseases, including liver disorders, naturally reduce their coffee consumption, even though avoidance of coffee is not routinely recommended. Also, they note that the assessment of coffee intake was based on patients self-reporting, although recall of coffee drinking has been shown to be accurate. The fact that the inverse relationship between coffee drinking and HCC was shown in both southern Europe and Japan suggests a lack of bias in these studies. Allowance for other confounding factors, such as hepatitis B and C, cirrhosis, social class indicators, alcohol use and smoking, also suggests that such factors did not influence the results.
"In conclusion, the results from this meta-analysis provide quantitative evidence of an inverse relation between coffee drinking and liver cancer," the authors state. "The interpretation of this association remains, however, unclear and the consequent inference on causality and worldwide public health implications is still open for discussion."
http://www.****.com
http://www.****-
Coffee and liver cancer
Medical Studies/Trials
Published: Sunday, 5-Aug-2007
www.news-medical.net
After lung and stomach cancer, liver cancer is the third largest cause of cancer deaths in the world.
A new study on the relationship between coffee drinking and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) confirmed that there is an inverse association between coffee consumption and HCC, although the reasons for this relationship are still unresolved.
The results of this study appear in the August 2007 issue of Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hepatology is available online via Wiley InterScience at http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/hepatology.
At least eleven studies conducted in southern Europe and Japan have examined the relationship between coffee drinking and the risk of primary liver cancer. The current study, led by Francesca Bravi of the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri in Milan, Italy, was a meta-analysis of published studies on HCC that included how much coffee patients had consumed. Researchers combined all published data to obtain an overall quantitative estimate of the association between coffee consumption and HCC.
The results showed a 41 percent reduction of HCC risk among coffee drinkers compared to those who never drank coffee. "Moreover, the apparent favorable effect of coffee drinking was found both in studies from southern Europe, where coffee is widely consumed, and from Japan, where coffee consumption is less frequent, and in subjects with chronic liver diseases," the researchers state.
They point out that animal and laboratory studies have indicated that certain compounds found in coffee may act as blocking agents by reacting with enzymes involved in carcinogenic detoxification. Other components, including caffeine, have been shown to have favorable effects on liver enzymes. Coffee has also been related to a reduced risk of liver diseases and cirrhosis, which can lead to liver cancer.
"Despite the consistency of these results, it is difficult to derive a causal inference on the basis of the observational studies alone," the authors note. It may be that patients with digestive tract diseases, including liver disorders, naturally reduce their coffee consumption, even though avoidance of coffee is not routinely recommended. Also, they note that the assessment of coffee intake was based on patients self-reporting, although recall of coffee drinking has been shown to be accurate. The fact that the inverse relationship between coffee drinking and HCC was shown in both southern Europe and Japan suggests a lack of bias in these studies. Allowance for other confounding factors, such as hepatitis B and C, cirrhosis, social class indicators, alcohol use and smoking, also suggests that such factors did not influence the results.
"In conclusion, the results from this meta-analysis provide quantitative evidence of an inverse relation between coffee drinking and liver cancer," the authors state. "The interpretation of this association remains, however, unclear and the consequent inference on causality and worldwide public health implications is still open for discussion."
http://www.****.com
http://www.****-
Smoking causes many health problems including heart disease, strokes and cancer. Smoking may also lead to a worsening of gum conditions and dry mouth associated with hepatitis C. There is some evidence that suggests higher rates of particular cancer types among smokers if they are also hepatitis C positive.
Smoking marijuana on a daily basis has also been significantly associated with the progression of fibrosis in people with hepatitis C.1
Should I stop smoking?
If you have hepatitis C, try to give up smoking because research shows that it can increase the progression of liver disease. Smoking also increases the risk of heart disease, and women who smoke experience menopause on average five years earlier than women who don’t.
People with hepatitis C are advised to reduce or abstain from regular marijuana use. If you smoke, try to cut down or give up completely. You will feel the benefits of quitting straight away as your body repairs itself.
Depending on the number of cigarettes you smoke, typical benefits of stopping are:
* after 12 hours almost all of the nicotine is out of your system;
* after 24 hours the level of carbon monoxide in your blood has dropped dramatically. You now have more oxygen in your bloodstream;
* after five days most nicotine by-products have gone;
* within days your sense of taste and smell improves;
* within a month your blood pressure returns to its normal level and your immune system begins to show signs of recovery;
* within two months your lungs will no longer be producing extra phlegm caused by smoking; after 12 months your increased risk of dying from heart disease is half that of a continuing smoker;
* stopping smoking reduces the incidence and progression of lung disease including chronic bronchitis and emphysema;
* after 10 years of stopping your risk of lung cancer is less than half that of a continuing smoker and continues to decline (provided the disease is not already present); and
* after 15 years your risk of heart attack and stroke is almost the same as that of a person who has never smoked.
Stopping smoking has major and immediate health benefits for men and women of all ages.
Quitting smoking can be difficult. Prepare yourself and plan strategies to cope with the physical or psychological symptoms that you might experience.
For many people it takes more than one attempt to quit—don’t give up trying just because you lapse and have a cigarette. The National QUIT line on 131 848 can help you plan a quit attempt and support you while you give up. Talk to your GP or pharmacist about other treatments that can help you to stop smoking (such as nicotine replacement therapy).
http://www.****.com/about_hepatitis/drugs.html
Smoking marijuana on a daily basis has also been significantly associated with the progression of fibrosis in people with hepatitis C.1
Should I stop smoking?
If you have hepatitis C, try to give up smoking because research shows that it can increase the progression of liver disease. Smoking also increases the risk of heart disease, and women who smoke experience menopause on average five years earlier than women who don’t.
People with hepatitis C are advised to reduce or abstain from regular marijuana use. If you smoke, try to cut down or give up completely. You will feel the benefits of quitting straight away as your body repairs itself.
Depending on the number of cigarettes you smoke, typical benefits of stopping are:
* after 12 hours almost all of the nicotine is out of your system;
* after 24 hours the level of carbon monoxide in your blood has dropped dramatically. You now have more oxygen in your bloodstream;
* after five days most nicotine by-products have gone;
* within days your sense of taste and smell improves;
* within a month your blood pressure returns to its normal level and your immune system begins to show signs of recovery;
* within two months your lungs will no longer be producing extra phlegm caused by smoking; after 12 months your increased risk of dying from heart disease is half that of a continuing smoker;
* stopping smoking reduces the incidence and progression of lung disease including chronic bronchitis and emphysema;
* after 10 years of stopping your risk of lung cancer is less than half that of a continuing smoker and continues to decline (provided the disease is not already present); and
* after 15 years your risk of heart attack and stroke is almost the same as that of a person who has never smoked.
Stopping smoking has major and immediate health benefits for men and women of all ages.
Quitting smoking can be difficult. Prepare yourself and plan strategies to cope with the physical or psychological symptoms that you might experience.
For many people it takes more than one attempt to quit—don’t give up trying just because you lapse and have a cigarette. The National QUIT line on 131 848 can help you plan a quit attempt and support you while you give up. Talk to your GP or pharmacist about other treatments that can help you to stop smoking (such as nicotine replacement therapy).
http://www.****.com/about_hepatitis/drugs.html
I just want to point out that many smokers get exposed to cigarette smoking at a young age because their parents smoked. When a child sees Mom or Dad, or both of them smoke, they are raised to believe that it's acceptable. My father smoked when I was little. (He doesn't now). I started smoking at 13 and smoked until I was almost 34. I've been quit for 12-1/2 years. However, my son saw me smoking and he started smoking when he turned 18. He's now quit at 26. Not every one who smokes can quit easily and it's nice to have compassion for them in their attempts to quit.
Susan
Susan
I'm switching from coffee to green tea, or at least trying to. I think coffee is getting me too wired up and causing my supplement array to act up more.
I remember a hypnosis tape I had years ago (Potentials Unlimited) explained that smoking cigarettes is triggered by the same mechanism that triggers young children to suck their thumbs.
Cigarette smokers stink. And they don't know.
I remember a hypnosis tape I had years ago (Potentials Unlimited) explained that smoking cigarettes is triggered by the same mechanism that triggers young children to suck their thumbs.
Cigarette smokers stink. And they don't know.
Cigarettes supresses your immune system
Cigarettes contain chemicals and not nice ones that need to be filtered by your liver.
Smoking causes oxidative stress on your liver.
The only study i am aware of smoking didnt reduce svr rates.
But i am still going to quit before next Tx
Coffee is good for you. I dont care if any study says the contary.
Just wouldnt be able to wake up other wise.
Caffeine and nicotine do seem to like each other though.
CS
Cigarettes contain chemicals and not nice ones that need to be filtered by your liver.
Smoking causes oxidative stress on your liver.
The only study i am aware of smoking didnt reduce svr rates.
But i am still going to quit before next Tx
Coffee is good for you. I dont care if any study says the contary.
Just wouldnt be able to wake up other wise.
Caffeine and nicotine do seem to like each other though.
CS
cigarettes have almost killed my father and he is only in his early sixties. He has cigarette related plaque in his arteries which has led to a heart attack that has killed 40% of his heart, and he had an aneurism in his aorta as large as his fist two years ago that he had repaired. His blood vessels are basically in such bad condition that its really only a matter of time. So I'm not a big fan of the things. He did finally quit smoking a couple of years ago. His doctor put him on zyban for two weeks prior to having him stop, then kept him on the zyban, and started him on the strongest level of the patches and had him stop smoking and progress through the patches while staying on the zyban. He had tried to stop many times before, but couldn't. For whatever reason, this method where he primed with the zyban seemed to work better for him, because it was successful. Unfortunately, he has already done a lot of permanent damage to his body.
Thanks, I'll pass the info on tho her. I think I will stay away from coffee, as I don't like to drink it anyway and she can keep on drinking her 1 or 2 cups of coffee per day.
Marcia
Marcia
it's true - cigarettes never can in any way for any reason be considered "good" for you or even "ok". Coffee on the other hand, as far as I know, doesn't have any cancer rate attached to it - or warnings on the side of the can.
If you'd have to say which one is worse for the liver, I'd have to say the cigarettes AND let me say that I'm not beating up on smokers as I am a former smoker myself. I was fortunately enough to be able to kick the habit about 12-1/2 years ago. I have heard about the studies talking about the benefits to coffee drinking. I think IN moderation that this would probably be okay. However, as with everything, I don't think that drinking 10 cups a day would be a good idea, because that would not be moderation. All of this is IMHO.
Susan
Susan
No - no way in the entire world.
I don't want to get into this huge debate again so I'll mind my business but let me tell you one thing.....as crazy as it is when I started treatment I told my doc I was going to quit and he said honey right now is not the time to quit with the cigs - wait a little while until you are used to what your body will have to go through to get used to the meds before you add additional strain to it.
Believe me, I was ECSTATIC about that. I know it probably wasn't the best "doctorly" advice to be given but...it made me feel better.
However he said absolutely under no circumstance could I ever have any alcohol during treatment (it will affect the chemicals and can render them impotent) whatsoever and for the rest of my life if I had a glass of wine or two a year that would be it.
so, I quit drinking and still smoke. hey - i'm so far from perfect it's pathetic but it's the best I could do.
we are after all only human.
Do the best you can to live a liver healthy life and after treatment when you are SVR if you want a cig or a glass of wine on occasion - but NEVER drink while on TREATMENT.
(PS I won't respond about coffee because honestly I'd rather cut my arm off than give up that)
I don't want to get into this huge debate again so I'll mind my business but let me tell you one thing.....as crazy as it is when I started treatment I told my doc I was going to quit and he said honey right now is not the time to quit with the cigs - wait a little while until you are used to what your body will have to go through to get used to the meds before you add additional strain to it.
Believe me, I was ECSTATIC about that. I know it probably wasn't the best "doctorly" advice to be given but...it made me feel better.
However he said absolutely under no circumstance could I ever have any alcohol during treatment (it will affect the chemicals and can render them impotent) whatsoever and for the rest of my life if I had a glass of wine or two a year that would be it.
so, I quit drinking and still smoke. hey - i'm so far from perfect it's pathetic but it's the best I could do.
we are after all only human.
Do the best you can to live a liver healthy life and after treatment when you are SVR if you want a cig or a glass of wine on occasion - but NEVER drink while on TREATMENT.
(PS I won't respond about coffee because honestly I'd rather cut my arm off than give up that)
Do you guys think being a smoker with Hep C is as bad for you as being a drinker with hep c? I've heard smoking can damage the liver, but to what extent?
"I would like to know what is more harmful Cigerrate or Coffee it taken in same quantity."
I'd say that three cups of coffee are a lot better for you than three cups of cigarettes.
I'd say that three cups of coffee are a lot better for you than three cups of cigarettes.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/543581?src=mp
From Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Is Coffee or Tea Good for Your Liver?
Posted 10/02/2006
W Ray Kim
Author Information
".....Conclusion
The consumption of coffee and tea is associated with a reduced risk of CLD..........
........Caution must be exercised, however, before physicians begin to advise patients with liver disease to consume more tea or coffee. Although these observational data show a consistent association between coffee or tea consumption and CLD, it is premature to conclude a causal relationship between the two (i.e that these beverages reduce the risk of liver disease).
Firstly, no known ingredients of coffee or tea have been linked with a protective effect in the pathogenesis of CLD. Caffeine might not be responsible, as caffeine-containing beverages other than coffee did not show any benefit in a study by Corrao et al.[2] Despite the recent interest in the antioxidant and other potentially beneficial properties of catechins in tea, a protective effect against CLD remains to be determined.[3]
Secondly, it is possible that the association revealed in this study might have been confounded with other dietary or behavioral factors that are indeed responsible for the reduced risk of CLD. For example, coffee or tea consumption was inversely associated with BMI. It could be that the consumption of these beverages is associated with healthier dietary practices, which might reduce the risk of the metabolic syndrome—itself associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the most common cause of CLD in the US. Similarly, consumption of coffee or tea might be inversely correlated with heavy alcohol consumption. The lack of a consistent pattern between coffee or tea consumption and alcohol intake in the Ruhl and Everhart study might be attributable to the fact that all levels of alcohol consumption >2 drinks per day were lumped together; patients with alcoholic liver disease who consumed >2 alcoholic drinks per day could not be separately analyzed. Although some of these questions were addressed in European studies, differences in culture and liver disease epidemiology make it difficult to directly extrapolate those results.[2,4]
In summary, Ruhl and Everhart provide as strong evidence as observational data possibly can for an inverse relationship between coffee or tea intake and CLD. Before coffee or tea can be 'prescribed' in patients with liver disease, however, interventional data are strongly warranted.
There might be an inverse relationship between tea, coffee, or caffeine intake and liver disease; however, further data are needed before tea or coffee can be adopted as a treatment in patients with chronic liver disease."
From Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Is Coffee or Tea Good for Your Liver?
Posted 10/02/2006
W Ray Kim
Author Information
".....Conclusion
The consumption of coffee and tea is associated with a reduced risk of CLD..........
........Caution must be exercised, however, before physicians begin to advise patients with liver disease to consume more tea or coffee. Although these observational data show a consistent association between coffee or tea consumption and CLD, it is premature to conclude a causal relationship between the two (i.e that these beverages reduce the risk of liver disease).
Firstly, no known ingredients of coffee or tea have been linked with a protective effect in the pathogenesis of CLD. Caffeine might not be responsible, as caffeine-containing beverages other than coffee did not show any benefit in a study by Corrao et al.[2] Despite the recent interest in the antioxidant and other potentially beneficial properties of catechins in tea, a protective effect against CLD remains to be determined.[3]
Secondly, it is possible that the association revealed in this study might have been confounded with other dietary or behavioral factors that are indeed responsible for the reduced risk of CLD. For example, coffee or tea consumption was inversely associated with BMI. It could be that the consumption of these beverages is associated with healthier dietary practices, which might reduce the risk of the metabolic syndrome—itself associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the most common cause of CLD in the US. Similarly, consumption of coffee or tea might be inversely correlated with heavy alcohol consumption. The lack of a consistent pattern between coffee or tea consumption and alcohol intake in the Ruhl and Everhart study might be attributable to the fact that all levels of alcohol consumption >2 drinks per day were lumped together; patients with alcoholic liver disease who consumed >2 alcoholic drinks per day could not be separately analyzed. Although some of these questions were addressed in European studies, differences in culture and liver disease epidemiology make it difficult to directly extrapolate those results.[2,4]
In summary, Ruhl and Everhart provide as strong evidence as observational data possibly can for an inverse relationship between coffee or tea intake and CLD. Before coffee or tea can be 'prescribed' in patients with liver disease, however, interventional data are strongly warranted.
There might be an inverse relationship between tea, coffee, or caffeine intake and liver disease; however, further data are needed before tea or coffee can be adopted as a treatment in patients with chronic liver disease."
Here is one:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/561366?sssdmh=dm1.293968&src=nldne
Medscape require registration to view but it's quick and easy to register and well worth the time and trouble. This is not a definitive study but it is interesting and on point.
Mike
Coffee Appears to Lessen Liver Cancer Risk CME/CE
Charles Vega, MD
Release Date: August 14, 2007;
".....Coffee consumption has been demonstrated to reduce aminotransferase activity, and it may also decrease the risk for liver cirrhosis. A case-control study by Corrao and colleagues, which appeared in the October 2001 issue of the Annals of Epidemiology, found a dose-response effect of coffee intake on reducing the risk for cirrhosis. Compared with lifetime abstainers of coffee, those participants drinking 1 cup of coffee per day had an adjusted odds ratio of 0.47 for cirrhosis, whereas drinking at least 4 cups of coffee per day reduced the odds ratio for cirrhosis to 0.16.
Cirrhosis is associated with an increased risk for HCC, and previous research has suggested that coffee consumption can also reduce the risk for incident HCC. The current meta-analysis provides a summary of this research.
Study Highlights
* The study authors performed a MEDLINE search for data on coffee consumption and HCC published between 1966 and February 2007. Researchers looked for cohort and case-control studies, which were originally published in English.
* The authors found 8 case-control and 3 cohort studies. Follow-up in the cohort studies ranged between 6 and 11 years. There were a total of 2075 cases analyzed in the included studies.
* The combined relative risk for HCC associated with coffee consumption was 0.59, and this risk was fairly consistent in both case-control and cohort research.
* There was significant heterogeneity between the studies, particularly the case-control research.
* Moderate coffee consumption, generally considered less than 3 cups of coffee per day, reduced the risk of developing HCC by approximately 30%, whereas the risk for HCC was reduced by 55% among individuals with higher levels of coffee intake.
* For each incremental increase in 1 cup of coffee per day, the risk for HCC decreased by 33%.
* Among subjects with a clinical or serological history of hepatitis, coffee consumption was associated with a relative risk of 0.56 for HCC vs abstinence from coffee.
* The conclusion that coffee drinking seems to have a protective effect against HCC was strengthened by the reproducibility of data in 2 distinct geographic regions with different overall levels of coffee consumption: Europe and Japan. However, the authors of the meta-analysis note that results of observational studies are subject to errors of bias and confounding. Therefore, causality between increased coffee consumption and reduced rates of HCC cannot be confirmed....."
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/561366?sssdmh=dm1.293968&src=nldne
Medscape require registration to view but it's quick and easy to register and well worth the time and trouble. This is not a definitive study but it is interesting and on point.
Mike
Coffee Appears to Lessen Liver Cancer Risk CME/CE
Charles Vega, MD
Release Date: August 14, 2007;
".....Coffee consumption has been demonstrated to reduce aminotransferase activity, and it may also decrease the risk for liver cirrhosis. A case-control study by Corrao and colleagues, which appeared in the October 2001 issue of the Annals of Epidemiology, found a dose-response effect of coffee intake on reducing the risk for cirrhosis. Compared with lifetime abstainers of coffee, those participants drinking 1 cup of coffee per day had an adjusted odds ratio of 0.47 for cirrhosis, whereas drinking at least 4 cups of coffee per day reduced the odds ratio for cirrhosis to 0.16.
Cirrhosis is associated with an increased risk for HCC, and previous research has suggested that coffee consumption can also reduce the risk for incident HCC. The current meta-analysis provides a summary of this research.
Study Highlights
* The study authors performed a MEDLINE search for data on coffee consumption and HCC published between 1966 and February 2007. Researchers looked for cohort and case-control studies, which were originally published in English.
* The authors found 8 case-control and 3 cohort studies. Follow-up in the cohort studies ranged between 6 and 11 years. There were a total of 2075 cases analyzed in the included studies.
* The combined relative risk for HCC associated with coffee consumption was 0.59, and this risk was fairly consistent in both case-control and cohort research.
* There was significant heterogeneity between the studies, particularly the case-control research.
* Moderate coffee consumption, generally considered less than 3 cups of coffee per day, reduced the risk of developing HCC by approximately 30%, whereas the risk for HCC was reduced by 55% among individuals with higher levels of coffee intake.
* For each incremental increase in 1 cup of coffee per day, the risk for HCC decreased by 33%.
* Among subjects with a clinical or serological history of hepatitis, coffee consumption was associated with a relative risk of 0.56 for HCC vs abstinence from coffee.
* The conclusion that coffee drinking seems to have a protective effect against HCC was strengthened by the reproducibility of data in 2 distinct geographic regions with different overall levels of coffee consumption: Europe and Japan. However, the authors of the meta-analysis note that results of observational studies are subject to errors of bias and confounding. Therefore, causality between increased coffee consumption and reduced rates of HCC cannot be confirmed....."
Opps, I kept reading and it is not ALL good. I am only going to read the good stuff.
For many of us the day does not begin until we have
enjoyed our first cup of coffee. We know it helps increase our
energy and alertness, but there is increasing scientific evidence
to show that coffee may also help provide significant protection
against the development of liver disease.
http://www.positivelycoffee.org/topic_liver_home.aspx
I googled coffee and the liver and came up with several positive things. Just one above.
enjoyed our first cup of coffee. We know it helps increase our
energy and alertness, but there is increasing scientific evidence
to show that coffee may also help provide significant protection
against the development of liver disease.
http://www.positivelycoffee.org/topic_liver_home.aspx
I googled coffee and the liver and came up with several positive things. Just one above.
I just came from the front porch. Smoking a cigarette and drinking my morning coffee. Cigarettes are bad, bad, bad. But don't anybody touch my coffee pot. That will be a fight.
Do you have a link to those studies? My daughter just asked me about coffee drinking and hep c yesterday. As I don't drink coffee and thus have not tried to inform myself on the subject, I really have no knowledge at all. Would really appreciate it.
marcia
marcia
cigerattes are more harmful. there have been studies that show coffee to benefit the liver
Hi there, do you mean harmful to the liver when having hepatitis C?
Please explain.
Marcia
Please explain.
Marcia
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