[ad_1]
(Andrea Bruce / The Washington Post)
Deaths from liver disease have increased dramatically in recent years in the United States, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. Cirrhosis-related deaths increased by 65% between 1999 and 2016, and deaths from liver cancer doubled, according to the study. The rise in death rates is mainly due to diseases caused by alcohol, the report says.
Over the past decade, people aged 25 to 34 years had the largest increase in cirrhosis deaths – an average of 10.5% per year.
The study suggests that a new generation of Americans is afflicted "by alcohol abuse and its complications," said lead author Elliot Tapper , liver specialist at the University of Michigan.
Tapper said people are at risk of life-threatening cirrhosis if they drink several drinks a night or have multiple nights of drinking – more than four or five drinks per session – per week Women tend to be less tolerant to alcohol and their liver more sensitive
The liver cleans the blood at the exit of the digestive tract The more toxins, sugars and fats consumed, the more difficult the liver to function If the liver "If you die of cirrhosis, you will never regret it," says Tapper.
If people with alcohol-related illness stop drinking, "there is an excellent chance your liver will repair itself," Tapper said. "Many other organs have the capacity to regenerate to some extent, but none has the same capacity as the liver," he added. He said that he regularly saw patients "from the sickest to the sick to live well, work and enjoy their lives".
The problem, said Tapper, is that "we have not yet a very effective treatment against alcoholism"
The study examined mortality rates in several demographic groups – divided by age, race, place of residence and sex – using data from death certificates and census data – but they increased sharply from 2009. They assumed that the 2008 economic crisis and the rise The resulting unemployment may have played a role: studies have shown that job loss is associated with increased consumption of alcohol among men, men were twice as likely to die of cirrhosis and nearly four times more likely to die of liver cancer than women.The study also revealed that whites, Native Americans and Hispanics rates of cirrhosis, as well as people living in Kentu cky, Arkansas and New Mexico. The only positive report of the study is the decreasing rate of death among Americans of Asian origin for both cirrhosis and liver cancer
"The scar tissue is silent, developing silently, and they [the patients] do not know it. "Surprised," said Jessica Mellinger, a clinical lecturer at the University of Michigan who did not participate in the study. "Suddenly," said Mellinger of patients with cirrhosis.
Mellinger's initial cirrhosis symptoms explains that yellowing of the skin, jaundice and swelling of the abdomen are the first signs indicating that something is wrong, the fluid in the abdomen can the make it look like bowling balls. progresses, the symptoms worsen, including degenerative brain injury, severe bleeding, kidney failure and increasing fragility.
The BMJ report was consistent with data released earlier in the week by the Centers for Disea. Control and Prevention. In a new report, the agency's National Center for Health Statistics reported that age-adjusted mortality rates for liver cancer were steadily increasing from 2000 to 2016 for both men and women. the women. The agency said that liver cancer had reached the sixth leading cause of cancer deaths in 2016, up from the ninth cause in 2000.
The increase in liver cancer occurs while Overall Cancer Death Rates in the United States Continue The CDC report showed that among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the District had the highest liver cancer mortality rate in the country, followed by Louisiana, Hawaii, Mississippi and New York. Mexico. The five states with the lowest mortality rates were Vermont, Maine, Montana, Utah and Nebraska.
Laurie McGinley contributed to this report
Read more:
NIH stops study of $ 100 million
Guidelines on "moderate" alcohol consumption are too loose, according to the study
Teenagers and university-aged students drink less while this group pays another round
[ad_2]
Source link
