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Daily Drinking is Biggest Risk Factor in Serious Liver Disease, Researchers Say HOBOKEN, NJ -- March 23, 2009 -- Long-term daily drinking, rather than weekly binge drinking, is by far the biggest risk factor in serious liver disease, according to a study published in the March issue of the journal Addiction. Researchers concluded that increases in UK liver deaths are a result of daily or near daily heavy drinking, not episodic or binge drinking, and this regular drinking pattern is often discernable at an early age. The study examined drinking patterns, dependency, and lifetime drinking history of 234 people with liver disease. Of the participants, 106 had alcohol-related liver disease (ALD), 80 of whom had evidence of cirrhosis or progressive fibrosis. Researchers found that 71% of ALD patients drank on a daily basis. In contrast to the patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis or fibrosis, patients with other forms of liver disease tended to drink sparingly with only 10 (8%) drinking moderately on 4 or more days each week. The study also explored lifetime drinking histories of 105 subjects and found that patients with ALD started drinking at a significantly younger age (mean age, 15 years) than other subjects and had significantly more drinking days and units than non-ALD patients from the age of 20 onwards. "If we are to turn the tide of liver deaths, then along with an overall reduction in alcohol consumption, which means tackling cheap booze and unregulated marketing, we need to find a way to identify those people who are most likely to develop alcohol-related illnesses at a much earlier stage, and perhaps we need to pay as much attention to the frequency of drinking occasions as we do to binge drinking," said lead author Nick Sheron, MD, University of Southampton, Southhampton, United Kingdom. "The transition from a late teenage and early 20's binge drinking pattern to a more frequent pattern of increased intake may prove to be a useful point of intervention in the future, and the importance of three alcohol-free days each week should receive more prominence." SOURCE: Wiley-Blackwell E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version