Liver disease on the increase

Hospital admissions of men and women with alcoholic liver disease in England have more than doubled in just thirteen years, according to a report to the Annual Scientific Meeting of the British Society of Gastroenterology in Birmingham.

In the thirteen years 1989 to 2002 admissions for alcoholic liver disease in men rose by 116 per cent, while for women there was a 108% rise. There was a rise in admissions in people of all ages, including young adults.

The research by a team from the Department of Gastroenterology at St George’s Hospital, London, the Office for National Statistics and the Department of Primary Care and Social Medicine, Imperial College, London, was conducted to look at trends for hospital admission rates for liver disease. Data on admissions for liver diseases was obtained from the Hospital Episodes Statistics Service.

The report comes at a time when licensing hours are being extended and the behaviour and health of excessive drinkers are being put under the spotlight.

Dr Mark Fullard, clinical research fellow in gastroenterology at St George’s Hospital, said: “The research findings highlight an important problem in public education and health planning and how we are going to manage alcohol related problems in this country. If it doubles again, it is going to have tremendous implications for the future burden of care in hospitals.”

Dr Fullard, who headed the research said: “In this day and age when hospitals are overflowing, we are looking at a potentially huge problem. I am flagging up the problem.”

“The actual number of women admitted with alcoholic liver problems is about half that of men, but the rate of rise has been about the same in women and men.”

The diseases included in the study range from mild alcoholic hepatitis - mild inflammation of the liver - through to very severe cirrhosis and liver cancer secondary to alcohol. Said Dr Fullard: “If you are young and have alcoholic liver disease and carry on drinking, then you will get severe alcoholic liver disease.”

The report concludes: “A very worrying trend is the large increase in admission rates for alcoholic liver disease in younger subjects as well as older individuals.” It draws attention to the implications of many more people needing liver transplants.