
Alcoholic liver disease rates soar among younger people - greenyoda
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/02/20/alcoholic-liver-disease-rates-soar-among-millennials/4802917002/
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downerending
Annoyingly, there doesn't seem to be any information about _why_ this is
happening. It's somewhat hard to believe that people are actually drinking a
lot more than they did 10/20/30/40 years ago.

One life tip to be aware of: Acetaminophen (Tylenol) is horribly toxic when
combined with alcohol. Don't do it.

~~~
elorant
There are a lot of studies as to why this is happening:

[https://www.uk-rehab.com/alcohol-addiction/why-is-
alcoholism...](https://www.uk-rehab.com/alcohol-addiction/why-is-alcoholism-
on-the-rise/)

[https://www.ashwoodrecovery.com/blog/alcoholism-rise-not-
slo...](https://www.ashwoodrecovery.com/blog/alcoholism-rise-not-slowing-see-
latest-stats/)

[https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-
way/2017/08/10/542409957...](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-
way/2017/08/10/542409957/drinking-on-the-rise-in-u-s-especially-for-women-
minorities-older-adults)

[https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325135#Economic-
gr...](https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325135#Economic-growth-may-
explain-global-trends)

~~~
downerending
Thank you for the links. Only the last seems to speak to the statistic I'm
interested in, which is per capita consumption changes over time.

In short, it sounds like change for the US is rather small, and actually
negative for Europe. Given that, once might theorize that more people are
drinking heavily, etc. (which might be covered in these links, but I haven't
looked closely yet)

Here's part of the last page:

At the global level, the team found that the total volume of alcohol consumed
per year increased by as much as 70% between 1990 and 2017, from 20,999
million liters per year to 35,676 million liters per year.

“Before 1990, most alcohol was consumed in high-income countries, with the
highest use levels recorded in Europe. However, this pattern has changed
substantially, with large reductions across Eastern Europe and vast increases
in several middle-income countries, such as China, India, and Vietnam,”
explains Manthey.

Moreover, he adds, “This trend is forecast to continue up to 2030, when Europe
is no longer predicted to have the highest level of alcohol use.”

In Europe, alcohol consumption — among adults, per capita, per year —
decreased by 12%, from 11.2 liters to 9.8 liters between 2010 and 2017. The
same figure increased by 34% in Southeast Asian countries, from 3.5 liters to
4.7 liters.

Over the same time period, alcohol consumption saw a small increase, from 9.3
liters to 9.8 liters, in the United States, and from 7.1 liters to 7.4 liters
in China, though it decreased in the United Kingdom, from 12.3 liters to 11.4
liters.

The researchers also observe that in most of the countries that they studied,
the volume of alcohol consumed seemed to increase at a faster rate than the
number of drinkers, suggesting that the average volume of alcohol intake per
individual is set to rise.

More specifically, alcohol consumption per capita is likely to increase from
5.9 liters of pure alcohol per year in 1990 to 7.6 liters in 2030.

------
woodandsteel
The article says people's bodies vary greatly in their ability to handle
alcohol without harm. And it also says that harm to the liver often shows no
symptoms until so much damage has been done that it's too late.

So does that mean the rational course is to just not consume alcohol at all,
or at least stay at very low levels, like a single drink a week?

------
brentis
Its foolish to think any amount of alcohol is ok for you.

~~~
undersuit
I'm going to have to disagree, not because you're wrong but because you've
gone full Sith(Never state an absolute). Alcohol is probably required for some
vital chemical pathways in the body. Just because something is dangerous
doesn't mean our body doesn't need it and has ways to mitigate the damage
similar to how our bodies handle reactive oxygen species.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3530279](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3530279)

~~~
pen2l
Nearly 2 billion of world population adheres to a religion that expressly
prohibits alcohol consumption, and I'm sure a very good amount out of that
makes it to a ripe old age.

~~~
nate_meurer
Sure, but that wouldn't disprove the notion that alcohol might have some
benefit.

There is evidence that ethanol enhances the liver's ability to properly manage
its fat stores, and thus might be protective against steatosis [1]. But this
is controversial, and it seems that experts are largely unwilling to endorse
alcohol consumption in the presence of any liver problems [2].

1 -
[https://academic.oup.com/mend/article/21/10/2541/2738565](https://academic.oup.com/mend/article/21/10/2541/2738565)
\- He L et al. Dose dependent effects of alcohol on insulin signaling: Partial
explanation for biphasic alcohol impact on human health.

2 - [https://sci-hub.tw/10.1002/hep.29753](https://sci-
hub.tw/10.1002/hep.29753) \- Bellentani S et al. Two drinks per day does not
take your fatty liver away.

~~~
undersuit
I'm also unwilling to endorse alcohol consumption, I'm just an avid reader.

