Alcohol Abuse Agitated by COVID-19 Stirring Liver Concerns (excerpt)
By Ingrid Hein
May 6, 2020
Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
Clinicians at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles are concerned about an uptick in alcohol-associated hospital admissions.
“We believe we’re seeing a significant increase in alcohol-related problems,” explained Sammy Saab, MD.
In a poll of 1004 Americans conducted on March 18 and 19, 8% of respondents reported that they are consuming more alcohol or other drugs and substances during this period of social isolation.
“People who are isolated are drinking more,” Saab said. “We see them coming to the hospital with significant liver damage from alcohol, all related to the isolation that’s required to combat the coronavirus.”
Saab said his team at UCLA and other centers are collecting evidence to help verify their early observation. “There are more people than usual showing a decrease in liver function,” he reported.
In some cases, people already have a chronic underlying drinking problem. “They’ve been drinking for years, but more reasonably, and now the pandemic has tipped them over the edge,” Saab explained.
We believe we’re seeing a significant increase in alcohol-related problems.
Others have been binging on a regular basis for a long time and now the binging is getting out of control. “We see the yellow eyes, swelling bellies, and vomiting blood; convulsion and confusion; signs of inflammation in the blood. It’s not necessarily at the point of cirrhosis, but they have acute liver injury.”
The binging population is of particular concern. “This is a huge problem, driven by people in their 30s and 40s,” Saab told Medscape Medical News. “It’s fascinating; with each subsequent generation, risk behavior increases. Nobody seems to know why that is. Different parenting, different life stressors, social media? Things have changed.”
In the 25- to 34-year age group, death from liver cirrhosis increased 10.5% from 2009 to 2016, according to data from the ACCELERATE-AH consortium, which is looking at alcohol use by patients before and after liver transplantation, as reported by Medscape Medical News.
Social isolation, stress, and anxiety are likely confounding the problem. “Boredom and a lack of purpose don’t help,” Saab said. And with unemployment in Los Angeles County expected to hit 32% later this month, stress is escalating.
“I’m a liver specialist,” Saab pointed out. “By the time they come to me, they’ve already been screened for liver failure,” yet “about 15% to 20% continue to drink.” But if they continue drinking, it’s a death sentence.