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Coffee and cigarettes are now being seen as something that can protect you from rare live disease called Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), a new study finds.

Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic liver disease that is caused by chronic inflammation of the bile ducts.

Uses and effects of coffee has always been a subject of great interest and this finding opens up an another prospect for counting coffee as a possible protective agent in other liver diseases.

The study has been performed by researchers at the Norwegian PSC Research Center based at Oslo University Hospital and the University of Oslo.

Total of 240 PSC patients and 245 controls were the part of the study. The study showed that the PSC patients were not much interested in consuming coffee, neither currently nor in the early adulthood. Those who had an adequate amount of coffee consumption pattern had lower levels of liver enzymes in the blood.

Of all the considered, only 20 per cent of the patients reported daily cigarette smoking. 43 per cent of them had the healthy controls. Cigarette smokers, interestingly, acquired the disease on average 10 years later than who did not smoke.

PSC is a severe condition that affects mostly young adults (30–40 years) and is not a common disease. It also carries high risk of associated cancer of bile ducts.

PSC is one of the prime reasons for liver transplantation. The disease in women is thought to be influenced by hormonal factors.

The study is published in the Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.