Current Events > Alcohol fuels surge of cirrhosis deaths among young adults, study finds

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/07/19/alcohol-sparked-cirrhosis-death-surge-among-young-adults-study-finds/800348002/

Researchers at the University of Michigan found that people ages 25 to 34 experienced a more than 10 percent spike in deaths due to cirrhosis, an irreversible scarring of the liver, between 2009 and 2016 the highest of any age group in the study. The cases were "driven entirely" by alcohol-related liver disease, researchers concluded.

Between 1999 and 2016, overall deaths in the U.S. caused by cirrhosis surged 65 percent, according to the study. Researchers analyzed public data on deaths available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, focusing specifically on deaths where cirrhosis was one of the key causes.
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who knew that excessive alcohol use caused liver damage
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Its alarming to see a young age group spike with a liver disease that is associated with long term alcohol use
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How much alcohol do you have to drink to die that early from cirrhosis

Maeiv posted...

Its alarming to see a young age group spike with a liver disease that is associated with long term alcohol use

It worries me, I drink a lot but I can't believe I'd give myself cirrhosis. Crazy
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Axiom posted...

How much alcohol do you have to drink to die that early from cirrhosis

I think a common figure is something like a bottle of liquor a day for ten years straight. A subset of heavy drinkers never develop the disease though. Its unclear why. (Somebody like Ric Flair, for example, should probably have died from liver damage, at least by the figures from which some people develop permanent damage).

Of course women invariably are at a much higher risk. Iirc they are twice as vulnerable to liver scarring.

Basically use moderation and space out your alcohol consumption by days. And preferably stick to wine or beer.

The liver can recover on its own fairly quickly also. But you have to stop drinking for a few months straight. The main thing is that cirrhosis itself is irreversible.
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Not surprising, everyone I know loves getting shit faced lol

Was in Vegas last weekend for a bachelors party and feel lucky to be alive
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Well, we Americans have a way of glamorizing alcohol to the point that it's deeply ingrained in the minds of people while growing up, then when they get the freedom of later adolescence they fly off the absolute handle. Media makes people that age think its socially acceptable to get shit-faced.

There's also the mystifying vagueness of when beginning to drink alcohol is acceptable in America. The age of legal drinking is 21, but how many people don't drink until that age? There's an aggravating culture of "looking the other way" when it comes to drinking around High School age, or even earlier and there's a huge blurring of when it is and isn't acceptable.
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SolKarellen posted...

Well, we Americans have a way of glamorizing alcohol to the point that it's deeply ingrained in the minds of people while growing up, then when they get the freedom of later adolescence they fly off the absolute handle. Media makes people that age think its socially acceptable to get shit-faced.

There's also the mystifying vagueness of when beginning to drink alcohol is acceptable in America. The age of legal drinking is 21, but how many people don't drink until that age? There's an aggravating culture of "looking the other way" when it comes to drinking around High School age, or even earlier and there's a huge blurring of when it is and isn't acceptable.

That, and most of the evidence I've seen indicates a high level of anxiety and depression among that age group, which makes it harder to quit.
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its also the high fructose corn syrup.
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I saw someone in my immediate family go through this. They went into a coma and died soon after. It's why I don't drink.

But to each their own.
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part of it is that the wine bars and craft breweries are our coffee shops

many of my peers drink to excess 4-6 times a week. i quit drinking more due to my behavior while consuming and lack of ability to stop once i started than a deep dependence on it, but i see people with true dependence all the time.

one of my good female friends is 30 and has the liver numbers of a 50 year alcoholic. she still goes out drinking many nights a week and gets obliterated with my wife and i on a regular basis.

i worry for her.
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So I did some research and throughout the few forums and medical sites I visited, it is not even slightly realistic to worry about cirrhosis in your 20s and 30s. One person that did develop it at 26 admitted to consuming an entire bottle of liquor every day for several years prior.

Also, the drinking patterns you exhibit in your 20s and 30s have little impact on developing cirrhosis vs drinking patterns in your 40s and 50s, so thats nice. A few health professionals suggested trying to really avoid drinking two nights in a row, and allowing a few days in between heavy drinking sessions to allow your liver to better recover.

At the end of the day, some drinkers never develop cirrhosis at all, even though they consume for years, while others do. Certain people are more at risk than others and its not known why. One thing that is certain is that women are more at risk to develop cirrhosis than men.
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SolKarellen posted...

Well, we Americans have a way of glamorizing alcohol to the point that it's deeply ingrained in the minds of people while growing up, then when they get the freedom of later adolescence they fly off the absolute handle. Media makes people that age think its socially acceptable to get shit-faced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=WrVLB3MtUjo

Even if there were no long-term effects from drinking a lot in your 20s it could still make things worse if you've developed the habit and take that with you into your 30s/40s.

Better to develop healthy habits early on. At some point you would have to go through the process of scaling back, and depending on how much/little willpower you have you could easily find yourself in trouble before you even realize it.
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clearaflagrantj posted...

SolKarellen posted...

Well, we Americans have a way of glamorizing alcohol to the point that it's deeply ingrained in the minds of people while growing up, then when they get the freedom of later adolescence they fly off the absolute handle. Media makes people that age think its socially acceptable to get shit-faced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=WrVLB3MtUjo

Goes all the way from the Super Bowl, the Hangover, to Archer, and everything in between.
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I used to drink a lot. I'm so fucking lucky I didn't do any lasting damage.
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Legalize weed, and this problem will largely go away immediately.

Alcohol and weed go together like chocolate and peanut butter.
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SpiralDrift posted...

Better to develop healthy habits early on. At some point you would have to go through the process of scaling back, and depending on how much/little willpower you have you could easily find yourself in trouble before you even realize it.

Oh definitely. Luckily, for me, I only drink on average twice a week, never daily. And recently I have stopped drinking for a month, experienced no bad cravings, or withdrawals or anything.
Questionmarktarius posted...

Legalize weed, and this problem will largely go away immediately.

For me, it would reduce my alcohol consumption, but it wouldn't eliminate it. I thoroughly enjoy doing both simultaneously.
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mustachedmystic posted...

Alcohol and weed go together like chocolate and peanut butter.

omg yes
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SolKarellen posted...

clearaflagrantj posted...

SolKarellen posted...

Well, we Americans have a way of glamorizing alcohol to the point that it's deeply ingrained in the minds of people while growing up, then when they get the freedom of later adolescence they fly off the absolute handle. Media makes people that age think its socially acceptable to get shit-faced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=WrVLB3MtUjo

Goes all the way from the Super Bowl, to The Hangover, to Animal House, to Archer, and everything in between.

It's just startling hearing about people who seemingly spend their free time purely drinking or how my mother always talks about growing up in rural Wisconsin where everyone drinks so much because "there's nothing else to do".

Meanwhile weed is THE DEVIL'S LETTUCE

I wish we lived in a society with legal weed, LSD, DMT, shrooms, etc.

orangefire25 posted...

For me, it would reduce my alcohol consumption, but it wouldn't eliminate it.

If you want avoid cirrhosis, that's close enough.

Axiom posted...

How much alcohol do you have to drink to die that early from cirrhosis

Seriously. If you drink that much more than I have during my time that's just fucked. And I'm 36 and healthy.
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ban alcohol
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megamanfreakXD posted...

ban alcohol

Yeah... that didn't really work out well the first time.