Alcohol-related liver diseases are rising in people under 40 — with cases specifically surging in young women, new research indicates.
According to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers looked at data from 3,340 people, ranging in age from 13 to 39, who were treated for alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH) between 2001 and 2022.
It was discovered that females had a “50% higher risk of developing cirrhosis,” scarring of the liver, and had a higher rate of liver mortality than their male counterparts, researchers said.
AH, per the Mayo Clinic, is inflammation that’s specifically caused by drinking alcohol that can cause cirrhosis, which can then lead to liver failure, along with kidney damage, enlarged veins and a buildup of toxins that damage the brain.
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Researchers saw an increase in the disease year over year, with AH rising 8% annually in men and 11% a year in women.
“When I started training in hepatology over 15 years ago, the type of individual we cared for with alcohol-associated hepatitis was very different from those we see today,” study author Dr. Jennifer Flemming, the Associate Professor of Medicine and Public Health Sciences at Canada’s Queens University, said in a statement.
“We’re seeing more and more younger people, especially women, affected by alcohol-related liver diseases,” she continued. “What we found is that while AH is rising in both sexes, the speed of the increase and the severity of outcomes are far worse in women.”
The study said that “disproportionate increases” in AH affected adolescents and young adults. It added that the COVID-19 pandemic “further exacerbated these trends” both in Canada and the U.S., which showed an increase in young women being hospitalized for AH.
Given the “surging rates” of AH among adolescents and young adults, the study said there is an “urgent need” to identify risk groups and intervene with treatment and disease management.
“Alcohol is deeply woven into the social fabric of many cultures,” Flemming said, “but what’s really encouraging is that with the right education and public health strategies, we can change behaviors for the better.”
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