[ad_1]
Over a Decade, Liver Disease Deaths Increased Rapidly in the United States, According to New Data
The most pronounced increase between 2009 and 2016 was an increase of 10.5% each year deaths due to cirrhosis among 25 to 25 year olds. 34 years old, mainly because of the high consumption of alcohol, the researchers report in the BMJ.
"It's alarming," said Dr. Elliot Tapper, a liver specialist and professor at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. "But the fact is that we are confronted daily with this type of problem in our hospital and our clinic. Some young men are very sick. It is always shocking to meet someone in their twenties or thirties who has liver failure. "
Normally, liver failure takes a long time to develop, Tapper said. He believes that the cases that he sees now in young people are caused by changes in the way people drink.
"This involves a different and more intense form of alcohol abuse, with people consuming substantial amounts of alcohol every day. In other words, regular drinking, not just the weekend.
Tapper suspects that the economy has a lot to do with the increase in alcohol consumption among young people
"It began in 2008". "It was a pivotal year for the United States and for the global economy as a whole, we know that desperate people are turning to alcohol abuse." Previous research has shown that they are young men who become unemployed. 19659002] The main causes of cirrhosis are alcoholic liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which is typically badociated with obesity, note the authors. The hepatitis C virus is also a major cause of cirrhosis, although newer antivirals offer the potential to eradicate hepatitis C.
After seeing the increase in cases of liver failure in his own institution, Tapper and a colleague looked at the data. The research results
The researchers looked for trends in deaths related to liver cancer and liver cirrhosis, which is a scar of the organ that can lead to the failure of more than 600,000 adults. time. They found that between 1999 and 2016, annual deaths due to cirrhosis increased by 65%, from 20,661 to 34,174. [19659002] Overall, deaths from liver cancer more than doubled from 5,112 to 11,073 per year. But there was some good news in the data: liver cancer deaths among people under age 55 declined during the same period.
Researchers found that men had twice as many deaths from cirrhosis as women and four times more
Nevertheless, the number of deaths among women surprised Dr. Sammy Saab, a liver specialist and Professor of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles, who was not involved in "Unfortunately, the face of alcoholic cirrhosis has changed," Saab said. "We used to consider this to be an illness of middle-aged men, but today we see people in their twenties and thirties with liver failure related to the condition." # 39; alcohol. It's extremely alarming, I've talked to my country's colleagues and it's the first time they've ever seen it. "
Ramon Bataller also noted the change. His research indicates that alcoholic cirrhosis "is the leading hospital cost factor in liver patients," said Bataller, chief of the hepatology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and badociate director of the Pittsburgh Liver Research Center. . "So, the problem is there."
There are no easy fixes, but first and foremost, progress needs to be made in early detection, said Bataller, who has not been involved in the present study. Patients often go to the hospital "after they start to turn yellow," he said. "Without an early detection program, we are waiting for people to get sick."
Unfortunately, according to Tapper, there are no obvious warning symptoms until the liver fails. But the signs can be seen in blood tests that could be done for other purposes, he noted. Platelet counts tend to be lower than normal, for example
"We would much rather meet people before they get yellow."
Source link
