Drinking-related liver disease and deaths on the rise in U.S.

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The Quiet Killer –

November 29, 2019 -The researchers analyzed causes of death for people aged 25 and older in the two decades since 1997, and found that 2017 had the highest rates of death from ALD, at 13.1 per 100,000 deaths in men and 5.6 per 100,000 in women. That compares to 1999 ALD mortality rates of 10.6 per 100,000 in men and 3.3 per 100,000 in women.

Mortality rates and recent increases in ALD diagnoses were particularly pronounced among middle-aged adults, Native Americans and non-Hispanic whites, the researchers report in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

For example, compared with non-Hispanic whites, Native Americans had twice the ALD mortality in 2017. The absolute increases in mortality rates have been particularly pronounced in Native American women, the authors note. This could indicate a public health crisis in this community and studying the disease in Native Americans should be high priority, they write.