More and more Americans are developing serious liver diseases like cirrhosis and liver cancer due to their drinking habits, new research has found.
The study, published on Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, adds to mounting evidence showing that liver problems due to alcohol are becoming a more serious problem in the U.S. Studies from the past few years have shown that more young people are dying of liver failure, liver disease is becoming a leading cause of death, and that alcohol-related problems are the number one reason for liver transplants in America, NBC News reported.
Now, with evidence that serious liver diseases are becoming more common, researchers set out to determine just how big a role alcohol plays in those diseases. The study's lead author, Robert Wong, saw "a lot of patients with advanced alcoholic fatty liver disease," which led him to start investigating — and binge-drinking is a huge indicator.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There are some concerns that binge-drinking is "part of the culture for the American millennial," said Elliot Tapper, a liver disease specialist who has conducted other studies on alcohol-related liver damage. Younger adults are especially seeing a rise in severe liver diseases, and their drinking habits have "no historical precedent," Tapper said.
Further research will need to be done in order to determine the best way to combat this trend, but for now, this study gives "more attention to a very serious problem," said Sammy Saab, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Learn more at NBC News.
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Trump’s White House ballroom: a threat to the republic?Talking Point Trump be far from the first US president to leave his mark on the Executive Mansion, but to critics his remodel is yet more overreach
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
