In recent years, several studies have been conducted to analyze the effects of coffee on several aspects of health, and most often the results have been interesting. A new study has discovered one such health benefit offered by regular intake of coffee: it reduces the risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a detrimental liver disease.

According to new research by Mayo Clinic, regular intake of coffee lowers the risk of PSC, an autoimmune liver disease. The study findings have been presented at the Digestive Disease Week 2013 conference that was held at Orlando, Fla.

"While rare, PSC has extremely detrimental effects," study author Craig Lammert, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist, said in a press statement. "We're always looking for ways to mitigate risk, and our first-time finding points to a novel environmental factor that also might help us to determine the cause of this and other devastating autoimmune diseases."

PCS is a disease of the bile duct that triggers inflammation and subsequent obstruction of the ducts, and this finally leads to cirrhosis of the liver, liver failure and biliary cancer.

To prove their finding, the study researchers examined a large group of patients who had PSC and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) along with a group of healthy patients. On analyzing the data, they learnt that intake of coffee was linked to a reduced risk of PSC. When compared to healthy people, patients suffering from PSC were not likely to consume coffee. The PSC patients spent 20 percent less time regularly drinking coffee than the healthy group.

From the study, researchers deduce that both PSC and PBS differ from each more than originally thought.

"Moving forward, we can look at what this finding might tell us about the causes of these diseases and how to better treat them," Konstantinos Lazaridis, M.D., a Mayo Clinic hepatologist and senior study author, says.