Alcohol to blame for surge in liver disease deaths

DEATHS from alcoholic liver disease and hospital admissions with the disease are sharply rising in Ireland, according to a new study.

In the wake of our new laws on minimum pricing for alcohol, research has revealed deaths from alcoholic liver disease rose just under a third from 2006 to 2016.

The first study of its type reveals hundreds of patients are dying from preventable liver conditions relating to alcohol every year.

Over the 10-year period, there was a 29% increase in hospital deaths due to alcoholic liver disease, with 233 patients dying from the alcohol-related conditions in 2006 compared to 300 patients in 2016. In comparison, there were 171 deaths from road collisions in 2016 – a number which has been steadily falling year-on-year over the previous decade due to public policy measures.

In this country alcoholic liver disease is a major cause of liver cirrhosis, which is scarring caused by long-term damage and can lead to liver failure. Alcoholic liver disease is also a cause of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer – which increased threefold during the decade.

Lead author of the study Dr Paul R Armstrong, a specialist registrar in gastroenterology and hepatology at St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin, said the research demonstrates that alcohol misuse continues to exert a significant negative impact on our hospital system.

‘Hospital admissions with liver disease related to alcohol rose by over a third over the 10-year study period,’ he said. ‘Admissions for hepatocellular carcinoma – the most common liver cancer, related to cirrhosis – rose by 300%.

‘The human cost of this is borne out by the mortality rate of 10%.’

Seven out of 10 patients with the condition were men. The average age at admission was mid-fifties. Liver diseases relating to alcohol range from fatty liver disease, alcoholic hepatitis to end-stage liver disease and liver cancer.

Treatment ranges from encouraging alcohol abstinence to treating complications of liver failure and liver transplantation.

The study also found rates of admission with alcoholic liver disease to be much greater than those of comparable northern European countries. Meanwhile Dr Armstrong says that public health measures to reduce harmful drinking will lead to a ‘significant fall in admissions’.

He said: ‘More than 40,000 bed days were used to care for patients with alcoholic liver disease in 2016 alone at a rough cost of €70m – and remember that liver disease represents only a fraction of alcohol-related hospital admissions.’

‘We need to have a discussion as to whether there is adequate provision to deal with liver disease.’