The data indicates that Americans, particularly younger adults, are drinking less alcohol, with the trend reflected in declining sales, reduced spending on alcohol, and shifts in attitudes towards drinking.
But there is still a segment of the population that continues to drink heavily, and the results of a recent study show that more are experiencing serious liver disease as a result.
According to a new study from Keck Medicine of USC, over the last two decades, the share of heavy drinkers who have advanced liver scarring jumped from 1.8% to 4.3%.
What is considered heavy drinking? For women, it’s more than 1.5 drinks per night, on average, and for men, it’s two drinks daily.
“The fact that the risk not only increased but that it more than doubled — almost tripled — is really astonishing,” Dr. Brian P. Lee, a liver transplant specialist at Keck Medicine of USC and lead author on the study, told the Los Angeles Times.
The study was published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology on Wednesday.
Lee told the Times that he thinks patients might dramatically change their thinking and behavior once they see the results. The increase was most prevalent in women, older people and those with conditions such as obesity or diabetes.
Three USC researchers analyzed national health data from more than 44,000 adults surveyed between 1999 and 2020 in a well-known national health study known as NHANES, according to the Times. More than 5 percent were heavy drinkers, according to the definition of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Researchers found a more than twofold increase over the two decades in significant liver fibrosis, which can eventually lead to liver failure or cancer.
By comparison, non-heavy drinkers saw a much smaller increase, from 0.8% to 1.4% over the same period, the story said.
Lee said knowing these numbers illuminates the importance of being aware of the potential damage to an organ that often doesn’t show any symptoms until the disease is advanced.
“Liver disease is silent,” he said, noting these results illuminate the need to develop more effective screening methods for early detection. “Most people won’t, even if they have [advanced liver scarring], have any symptoms at all.”
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