Couple of interesting scientific findings below. Nice to know that PSC research is active around the world and the search for the cure is on-going. The articles linked below relate to basic science trying to understand PSC better. There is hope out there.
ROCHESTER, Minn., May 20 (UPI) -- Regular coffee drinking is associated with a reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis, an autoimmune liver disease, U.S. researchers say.
Study author Dr. Craig Lammert, a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist, said PSC is an inflammatory disease of the bile ducts that results in inflammation and subsequent fibrosis that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver failure and biliary cancer.
The study found coffee consumption was associated with reduced risk of PSC, but not PBC. However, PSC patients were much likelier not to consume coffee than healthy patients were. The PSC patients also spent nearly 20 percent less of their time regularly drinking coffee than the control group.
Senior author Dr. Konstantinos Lazaridis, a Mayo Clinic hepatologist, said the findings suggested PSC and PBC differ 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," Lazaridis said.
http://sciencenordic.com/genetic-findings-offer-hope-liver-patients
Researchers have identified nine new genetic loci that are important in the development of a serious liver disease.
Researchers at the Institute of Clinical Medicine and Oslo University Hospital have now made new genetic findings that may offer hope of more effective treatment for PSC patients.
"Previously we have only been able to hazard guesses about the cause of the disease. Our genetic findings provide quite specific clues as to what is wrong.
This means that in the future researchers can apply treatment that targets the underlying mechanisms. Such fine tuning of the artillery may slow the advance of the disease.”
The research results are startling, and have now been published in the journal Nature Genetics - a prestigious giant of international research with rigorous selection criteria.