The need for liver transplants due to heavy drinking increased during the epidemic, researchers reported Tuesday.
They found that the number of people who received a liver transplant or were placed on a waiting list due to alcoholic hepatitis was 50% higher than predicted based on pre-epidemic trends.
With alcoholic hepatitis, the liver stops processing alcohol and instead produces highly toxic chemicals that cause inflammation. Inflammation can kill healthy liver cells, causing irreversible damage to the liver. Forcing the patient to receive a liver transplant to survive.
Alcoholic hepatitis is a condition that often develops after years of drinking, but it can also develop after a short period of overdose. Scientists still do not know why some people get the disease and others do not.
For this study, researchers at the University of Michigan compared the actual number of people on the US Transplant List from March 2020 to January 2021 with predicted numbers based on pre-epidemic data. They also looked at monthly retail alcohol sales records between January 2016 and 2021.
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The results, published in the JAMA Network Open, show a positive correlation between an increase in the number of people waiting for the liver due to alcoholic hepatitis and an increase in alcohol sales during Epidemic.
A survey released Monday by the Mental Health and Abuse Services Administration found that American adults claimed they drank the same amount of alcohol during at least one pandemic. In the fourth quarter of 2020. Sales figures may suggest otherwise. Researchers in the study noted that alcohol sales had increased significantly since March 2020 and remained at about the same level for the rest of the year.
From March 2020 to January 2021, researchers found that 51,488 people were on the waiting list for liver disease and 32,320 liver transplants were performed due to alcoholic hepatitis. The number of people who need a liver transplant for reasons other than alcoholic hepatitis remains about the same.
"While we cannot pinpoint the cause, this disproportionate increase in association with increased alcohol sales may be associated with an increase in misuse of alcohol," the researchers wrote. During COVID-19 ". "This study provides evidence for a worrying increase in (alcoholic hepatitis) associated with an increase in alcohol abuse during COVID-19 and demonstrates the need for action. Public health interventions surrounding excessive alcohol consumption. "