In the United States, alcohol-related deaths rose sharply during the pandemic’s first year. Between 2019 and 2020, the number of alcohol-related deaths has increased. 26 percentResearchers reported that this number has increased from 10.4 percent to 13.1 percent 100,000 in a National Center for Health Statistics brief, published November 4.
In the last 20 years, the rate at which alcohol-induced death has been increasing has been steady over the past 20 years. But the increase in annual incidence was 7 percent or less.
The leading cause of increased mortality was alcoholic liver diseases, including cirrhosis or hepatitis. Deaths from mental and behavioral disorders due to alcohol use — mortality from dependence syndrome or withdrawal, for example — were the second most frequent contributor.
Others have also reported this. Adults were drinking more and more frequently.It was earlier in the pandemic than the year prior.
Evidence also suggests an increase in cases alcoholic liver disease. According to a Baltimore study, 2.3 times more people are suffering from alcoholic liver disease. Patients suffering from severe alcoholic liver diseases and those who have recently been drinking excessivelyThey were referred to their liver donation center from July to Dec 2020, compared to the months of 2019
The jump in the alcohol-induced death rate isn’t surprising, considering how much data “had been pointing in this direction,” says transplant hepatologist Victor Chen of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Chen says that although the liver can regenerate itself, it is limited to certain limits. To prevent further harm, stop drinking alcohol if the liver has become permanently damaged by scar tissue. The combination of underlying liver disease and more drinking can “cause liver symptoms, and ultimately death, if you don’t get a transplant early enough.”
