Liver disease rates are high in Halton
NEARLY twice as many men than women died of liver disease in Halton according to the latest figures.
Statistics for NHS Halton Clinical Commissioning Group showed in 2015 that 29 people under 75 – 10 women and 19 men – passed away from the illness.
It works out at 23 deaths from the disease for every 100,000 people living in the borough.
Nearby Liverpool meanwhile has one of the highest rates of people dying prematurely from liver disease in the country.
The latest figures from the NHS reveal that 134 adults under the age of 75 in the city died of liver disease in 2015, despite being relatively young.
That works out as the equivalent of 31 deaths for every 100,000 people living in Liverpool – the fifth highest rate in the country, and twice the national average.
Across England nearly 8,500 adults died of liver disease before reaching the age of 75 in 2015, or just 16 in every 100,000 people.
Other parts of Merseyside also had particularly high rates of relatively young people dying from liver problems.
In South Sefton, for example, 44 younger people died from liver disease that year, or 30 in every 100,000 people, while St Helens saw 56 deaths – 29 for every 100,000 people under 75.
Meanwhile, Knowsley saw the lowest rate of these kinds of deaths in the region, with just 22 in every 100,000 people affected – 32 individuals in total.
Liver disease is one of the leading causes of death in the country, and we’re now seeing more people dying from it at younger ages – 1,000 more people under 75 died of liver disease in 2015 than in 2009.
For the most part, chronic liver disease is preventable, and alcohol consumption and levels of obesity are both major factors in increasing the risk of developing it.
In Liverpool, 29% of adults are ● reported to drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week – slightly higher than the national average of 26%.
Men in the North West are also twice as likely to drink to excess than women are, which might explain why men are generally more likely to die early from liver disease.
Across Merseyside, 120 women under the age of 75 died of liver disease in 2015, compared to 206 men.