During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. saw a significant increase in the number of people requiring a liver transplant for a disease caused by heavy drinking.
Researchers at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, analyzed a national waitlist for liver transplants and numbers of transplants from deceased donors that included over 80,000 patients over five years.
From June 2020 to January 2021, the numbers of waitlist registrations and deceased donor transplants for patients suffering from an alcohol-related disease both shot up by about 60 percent compared to trends from before the pandemic.
At the same time, commercial alcohol sales increased sharply, according to data from the U.S. Census.
The findings could be tied to increasing alcohol use during the pandemic - though this study does not show an exact causation - the researchers say.
During the pandemic, Americans consumed more alcohol - potentially leading to an increase in a severe liver disease, a new study from the University of Michigan found
New waiting list registrations and deceased donor transplants for patients with alcoholic hepatitis, a condition caused by heavy drinking, rose more than 50% during the pandemic
Americans have been drinking more alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Multiple studies have picked up the trend, including one survey from the nonprofit RTI International that found liquor sales went up in spring 2020 - and stayed up through the rest of the year.
Researchers say the increase could be tied to wide-scale stress and anxiety caused by Covid, following past drinking increases during other natural disasters.
In addition to alcohol sales, the number of people who reported binge drinking also increased in 2020, according to the RTI International survey.
For many people, binge drinking can lead to alcoholic hepatitis - a condition in which the liver becomes inflamed.
People with this condition have a high risk of serious liver damage, which can potentially be fatal.
A new study, published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open, from researchers at the University of Michigan examined a rise in alcoholic hepatitis during the
