19696

The possible link between coffee consumption and reduced occurrence of alcohol-related cirrhosis seems worthy of further study. Although the beneficial effect may be due to any of a variety of coffee ingredients, it would seem rather straightforward to investigate a correlation in caffeinated and decaffeinated beverages.

Wayne H. Warren Jr.
Greenbelt, Md.

Since tea consumption didn’t appear to have any anticirrhosis effect in the study, the pivotal coffee ingredient doesn’t appear to be caffeine .—C. Brownlee