Liver disease admissions to hospital double in a decade

HOSPITAL admissions linked to liver damage have doubled in a decade, according to figures released, which also show where in the country alcohol is taking the heaviest toll.

People from Blackpool are nearly eight times as likely to die from liver disease as those from Norfolk, the research reveals. Some 30 people per 100,000 from the North-west town die from the condition before the age of 75. This compares to just 4 per 100,000 in south Norfolk, according to data from Public Health England (PHE).

Blackpool is followed by north Manchester, Wolverhampton, Liverpool and Blackburn with Darwen when it comes to high rates of early death. Almost all liver disease can be prevented.

Alcohol, obesity, and hepatitis B and C – which are linked to drug use and unprotected sex in some cases – account for up to 90 per cent of cases.

The data show that hospital admission rates for cirrhosis of the liver have doubled over the past decade across England, from 55 per 100,000 to 108 per 100,000 people. Liver disease is responsible for almost 12 per cent of deaths in men aged 40 to 49, and is the fourth most common cause of years of life lost in people under 75.

While mortality for illnesses such as heart disease is falling, deaths from liver disease have more than doubled in the last 40 years, the figures show.

Professor Julia Verne, head of clinical epidemiology at PHE, said: “Chronic liver disease is a silent killer of young adults, creeping up and showing itself when it’s often too late. However, around 90 per cent of liver disease is preventable.”

Vanessa Hebditch, director of communications and policy at the British Liver Trust, said: “Across the UK we are facing a liver disease crisis.

“People are dying of liver damage younger and younger, with the average age of death now being mid-50s. Primary care needs to have a much greater emphasis on liver disease.”