Increased Number of People in Waiting List for Liver Transplant Linked to Increased Alcohol Consumption During COVID-19 Pandemic

Alcohol consumption during the pandemic has dramatically increased as previously reported by Science Times. Recently, its impact on the already increasing alcohol-associated liver inflammation has been examined and researchers found that there is a significant increase in the number of people who got a liver transplant and are on the waiting list due to alcoholic hepatitis.

Researchers from the University of Michigan hypothesized that this list and the need for a deceased donor liver transplant (DDLT) would disproportionately rise in the coming months.

Increased Need for Liver Transplants During the Pandemic

In a report shared by CNN, researchers said that the need for liver transplants due to alcohol misuse soared during the pandemic by around 50% compared to the expected number and on pre-pandemic trends.

Researchers from the University of Michigan compared the actual number of people on the organ transplantation waitlist from March 2020 to January 2021 with the projected numbers that were based on pre-pandemic trends. Also, they looked at the retail alcohol sales records in the US between January 2016 and January 2021.

In their study, titled "Association of COVID-19 With New Waiting List Registrations and Liver Transplantation for Alcoholic Hepatitis in the United States," published in JAMA Network Open, researchers wrote that there is a positive correlation between the number of people on the waiting list for a liver transplant and the increase in retail alcohol sales in the country during the pandemic.

"While we cannot confirm causality, this study provides evidence for an alarming increase in alcoholic hepatitis associated with known increases in alcohol misuse during COVID-19," study first author and Michigan Medicine general surgery resident, Dr. Maia S. Anderson said in the university's press release.

She added that their findings highlight the need for public health interventions, particularly on excessive alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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What is Alcoholic Hepatitis?

According to Mayo Clinic, recessive alcohol consumption causes inflammation of the liver called alcoholic hepatitis. But the relationship between alcohol consumption and alcoholic hepatitis is complex because not all heavy drinkers develop the disease and could occur to moderate drinkers.

The most common symptom of alcoholic hepatitis is jaundice or the yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. Other signs and symptoms include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, fever, abdominal tenderness, fatigue, and weakness. 

Additional symptoms are malnutrition since heavy drinking suppresses appetite, fluid accumulation in the abdomen, confusion, and changes in behavior. Worst case scenario is having kidney and liver failure.

A person could develop alcoholic hepatitis after years of drinking that results in their liver stopping processing alcohol and creating toxic chemicals that trigger liver inflammation, killing healthy cells and creating irreversible damage to the organ that may lead to a liver transplant. Scientists still do not know why some people develop alcoholic hepatitis and others do not despite being heavy drinkers.

RELATED ARTICLE: Survey Shows Alcohol Consumption During Pandemic Drastically Increases

Check out more news and information on Alcohol Consumption in Science Times.