In twenty years, the incidence of liver cirrhosis has increased among Canadian adolescents and young adults. But also among women.
Cirrhosis is a chronic liver disease, which affects nearly 700,000 French people. More than 10,000 people die of it every year from complications. Among the causes of this irreversible pathology: excessive alcohol consumption or hepatitis C infection. Cirrhosis of the liver is one of the main risk factors for liver cancer. Recently, studies have shown that the incidence of the disease has increased in American adolescents and young adults. Canadian researchers wanted to know if the trend was the same in their country. Their results are published in The Lancet.
Young people and women are the most affected
To carry out their study, the researchers used administrative health data between 1997 and 2016. In twenty years, nearly 166,000 cases of liver cirrhosis have been diagnosed. The incidence of the disease in people born in 1980 and 1990 was higher than in those born in 1951.
The disease therefore seems to affect younger and younger people. Another finding: women were more affected than men. In two decades, the number of cases of liver cirrhosis therefore increased. The pathology develops earlier and earlier, and especially in women. The researchers indicate that further studies are needed to determine the causes of this development.
Alcohol consumption involved?
Alcohol is a well-known cause of cirrhosis of the liver. Recently, another study -made only with women- published in The Lancet showed how the way it is consumed can increase the risk of contracting the disease. Thus, according to the results of the researchers, it is better to consume alcohol during meals than outside. It should therefore be drunk with even more moderation in aperitifs or other afterworks.
“In women, the incidence of cirrhosis increases with total alcohol consumption, even at moderate levels of consumption. For a given weekly alcohol consumption, this excessive incidence of cirrhosis is higher if consumption is usually outside of meals and is daily,” the researchers conclude.
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