- Americans today are expected to live shorter lives than just a few years ago, in contrast with trends seen in other developed nations, and rising deaths from alcohol-related liver disease may be partly to blame, researchers say.
"There is data showing that alcohol use, particularly high-risk drinking, has increased in recent years." For example, compared with non-Hispanic whites, Native Americans had twice the ALD mortality in 2017. The absolute increases in mortality rates have been particularly pronounced in Native American women, the authors note. This could indicate a public health crisis in this community and studying the disease in Native Americans should be high priority, they write.
Men who consume over two drinks a day and women who consume more than one are at risk of accumulating fat in the liver, Moon said. Binge drinking, on the other hand, has been associated with alcoholic hepatitis or severe inflammation of the liver that can lead to organ failure and death, while persistent drinking over years could result in liver scarring or cirrhosis that impedes the organ from its regular functioning.