Project description:BackgroundNo evidence is available on the natural history of grade 1 ascites and its progression to grade 2/3 in patients with liver cirrhosis. The aim of the current study was to address this issue, to assess the development of main comorbid disorders closely related to ascites progression, and to identify the predictive factors for survival in this setting.MethodsConsecutive Caucasian cirrhotic patients with grade 1 ascites were retrospectively analyzed. None of patients was under treatment with diuretics at diagnosis. Control groups consisted of 145 cirrhotics with grade 2/3 ascites and 175 cirrhotics without ascites.ResultsDiuretics were initiated in 58 patients with grade 1 ascites at baseline by the attending physician. At the last follow up, 29 patients had no ascites, 33 patients had grade 1 and 38 patients had grade 2/3 ascites. No variable was found to be an independent predictor of grade 2/3 ascites. Seven patients developed spontaneous bacterial peritonitis while under treatment with diuretics; at that time only 1 patient had grade 1 ascites. The mortality rate was similar among all examined groups.ConclusionsThis study suggests that the presence of grade 1 ascites does not constitute a precursor of grade 2/3 ascites in patients with cirrhosis. Thus, patients with grade 1 ascites do not require specific treatment with diuretics.
Project description:The effect of light-to-moderate alcohol consumption on cancer risk remains controversial. We examined the association between low-level alcohol consumption and cancer mortality. A cohort study included 331,984 Korean adults free of cancer at baseline who underwent a comprehensive health checkup examination. Participants were categorized into never drinkers, former drinkers, and current drinkers who were further divided into light, moderate, heavy, and very heavy drinkers. Vital status and cancer-related deaths were ascertained through links to national death records. During 1,633,906 person-years of follow-up (median 5.3 years interquartile range 3.8-6.2), 374 cancer-related deaths were identified (cancer-cause mortality rate of 23 per 105 person-years). When former and never drinkers were classified as non-drinkers, the light drinkers had a lowest risk of cancer mortality compared with non-drinkers and other current drinkers (J-shaped); however, with consideration of lifetime abstinence history, current drinking was positively associated with cancer mortality in a dose-dependent manner. When changes in alcohol drinking status and confounders during follow-up were updated as time-varying covariates and never drinkers were used as the reference, the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence intervals, CIs) for cancer mortality among current light, moderate, heavy, and very heavy drinkers were 1.58 (1.03-2.43), 2.28 (1.41-3.70), 2.34 (1.42-3.85), and 2.97 (1.80-4.90), respectively, and the highest risk of cancer mortality was observed in former drinkers, who had an HR (95% CI) of 3.86 (2.38-6.28). Alcohol consumption was significantly and positively associated with an increased risk of cancer mortality in a dose-dependent manner, beginning with light drinkers.
Project description:BackgroundAlthough alcohol abstinence may be an effective intervention for alcohol-associated cirrhosis, its association with prognosis has not been systematically assessed or quantified.AimsTo determine the prevalence of alcohol abstinence, factors associated with alcohol abstinence and the impact of abstinence on morbidity and overall survival in people with alcohol-associated cirrhosis.MethodsWe searched Medline and Embase from inception to 15 April 2023 for prospective and retrospective cohort studies describing alcohol abstinence in people with known alcohol-associated cirrhosis. Meta-analysis of proportions for pooled estimates was performed. The method of inverse variance, employing a random-effects model, was used to pool the hazard ratio (HR) comparing outcomes of abstinent against non-abstinent individuals with alcohol-associated cirrhosis.ResultsWe included 19 studies involving 18,833 people with alcohol-associated cirrhosis. The prevalence of alcohol abstinence was 53.8% (CI: 44.6%-62.7%). Over a mean follow-up duration of 48.6 months, individuals who continued to consume alcohol had significantly lower overall survival compared to those who were abstinent (HR: 0.611, 95% CI: 0.506-0.738). These findings remained consistent in sensitivity/subgroup analysis for the presence of decompensation, study design and studies that assessed abstinence throughout follow-up. Alcohol abstinence was associated with a significantly lower risk of hepatic decompensation (HR: 0.612, 95% CI: 0.473-0.792).ConclusionsAlcohol abstinence is associated with substantial improvement in overall survival in alcohol-associated cirrhosis. However, only half of the individuals with known alcohol-associated cirrhosis are abstinent.
Project description:Risk of alcoholic cirrhosis is determined by genetic and environmental factors. We aimed to investigate if climate has a causal effect on alcohol consumption and its weight on alcoholic cirrhosis. We collected extensive data from 193 sovereign countries as well as 50 states and 3,144 counties in the United States. Data sources included World Health Organization, World Meteorological Organization, and the Institute on Health Metrics and Evaluation. Climate parameters comprised Koppen-Geiger classification, average annual sunshine hours, and average annual temperature. Alcohol consumption data, pattern of drinking, health indicators, and alcohol-attributable fraction (AAF) of cirrhosis were obtained. The global cohort revealed an inverse correlation between mean average temperature and average annual sunshine hours with liters of annual alcohol consumption per capita (Spearman's rho -0.5 and -0.57, respectively). Moreover, the percentage of heavy episodic drinking and total drinkers among population inversely correlated with temperature -0.45 and -0.49 (P < 0.001) and sunshine hours -0.39 and -0.57 (P < 0.001). Importantly, AAF was inversely correlated with temperature -0.45 (P < 0.001) and sunshine hours -0.6 (P < 0.001). At a global level, all included parameters in the univariable and multivariable analysis showed an association with liters of alcohol consumption and drinkers among population once adjusted by potential confounders. In the multivariate analysis, liters of alcohol consumption associated with AAF. In the United States, colder climates showed a positive correlation with the age-standardized prevalence of heavy and binge drinkers. Conclusion: These results suggest that colder climates may play a causal role on AAF mediated by alcohol consumption.
Project description:ObjectivesTo systematically summarize the risk relationship between different levels of alcohol consumption and incidence of liver cirrhosis.MethodsMEDLINE and Embase were searched up to March 6, 2019, to identify case-control and cohort studies with sex-specific results and more than 2 categories of drinking in relation to the incidence of liver cirrhosis. Study characteristics were extracted and random-effects meta-analyses and meta-regressions were conducted.ResultsA total of 7 cohort studies and 2 case-control studies met the inclusion criteria, providing data from 2,629,272 participants with 5,505 cases of liver cirrhosis. There was no increased risk for occasional drinkers. Consumption of one drink per day in comparison to long-term abstainers showed an increased risk for liver cirrhosis in women, but not in men. The risk for women was consistently higher compared to men. Drinking ≥5 drinks per day was associated with a substantially increased risk in both women (relative risk [RR] = 12.44, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.65-23.27 for 5-6 drinks, and RR = 24.58, 95% CI: 14.77-40.90 for ≥7 drinks) and men (RR = 3.80, 95% CI: 0.85-17.02, and RR = 6.93, 95% CI: 1.07-44.99, respectively). Heterogeneity across studies indicated an additional impact of other risk factors.DiscussionAlcohol is a major risk factor for liver cirrhosis with risk increasing exponentially. Women may be at higher risk compared to men even with little alcohol consumption. More high-quality research is necessary to elucidate the role of other risk factors, such as genetic vulnerability, body weight, metabolic risk factors, and drinking patterns over the life course. High alcohol consumption should be avoided, and people drinking at high levels should receive interventions to reduce their intake.
Project description:The role of moderate alcohol consumption in the evolution of NAFLD is still debated. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of current and lifelong alcohol consumption in patients with NAFLD. From 2015 to 2020, we enrolled 276 consecutive patients fulfilling criteria of NAFLD (alcohol consumption up to 140 g/week for women and 210 g/week for men). According to their current alcohol intake per week, patients were divided in: abstainers, very low consumers (C1: <70 g/week) and moderate consumers (C2). We created a new tool, called LACU (Lifetime Alcohol Consuming Unit) to estimate the alcohol exposure across lifetime: 1 LACU was defined as 7 alcohol units per week for 1 drinking year. Patients were divided into lifelong abstainers and consumers and the latter furtherly divided into quartiles: Q1-Q4. Stratification according to alcohol intake, both current and cumulative as estimated by LACU, showed that very low consumers (C1 and Q1-Q3) displayed lower frequency of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma compared to abstainers and moderate consumers (C2 and Q4). We can speculate that up to one glass of wine daily in the context of a Mediterranean diet may be a long-term useful approach in selected NAFLD patients.
Project description:Biological pathways between alcohol consumption and alcohol liver disease (ALD) are not fully understood. We selected genes with known effect on (1) alcohol consumption, (2) liver function, and (3) gene expression. Expression of the orthologs of these genes in Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster was suppressed using mutations and/or RNA interference (RNAi). In humans, association analysis, pathway analysis, and Mendelian randomization analysis were performed to identify metabolic changes due to alcohol consumption. In C. elegans, we found a reduction in locomotion rate after exposure to ethanol for RNAi knockdown of ACTR1B and MAPT. In Drosophila, we observed (1) a change in sedative effect of ethanol for RNAi knockdown of WDPCP, TENM2, GPN1, ARPC1B, and SCN8A, (2) a reduction in ethanol consumption for RNAi knockdown of TENM2, (3) a reduction in triradylglycerols (TAG) levels for RNAi knockdown of WDPCP, TENM2, and GPN1. In human, we observed (1) a link between alcohol consumption and several metabolites including TAG, (2) an enrichment of the candidate (alcohol-associated) metabolites within the linoleic acid (LNA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) metabolism pathways, (3) a causal link between gene expression of WDPCP to liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. Our results imply that WDPCP might be involved in ALD.
Project description:BackgroundWe aimed to evaluate how coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions had altered individual's drinking behaviours, including consumption, hangover experiences, and motivations to drink, and changing levels of depression and anxiety.MethodWe conducted an online cross-sectional self-report survey. Whole group analysis compared pre- versus post-COVID restrictions. A correlation coefficient matrix evaluated the associations between all outcome scores. Self-report data was compared with Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores from the 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. Multiple linear modelling (MLM) was calculated to identify factors associated with increasing AUDIT scores and post-restriction AUDIT scores.ResultsIn total, 346 individuals completed the survey, of which 336 reported drinking and were therefore analysed. After COVID-19 restrictions 23.2% of respondents reported an increased AUDIT score, and 60.1% a decreased score. AUDIT score change was positively correlated with change in depression (P < 0.01, r = 0.15), anxiety (P < 0.01, r = 0.15) and drinking to cope scores (P < 0.0001, r = 0.35). MLM revealed that higher AUDIT scores were associated with age, mental illness, lack of a garden, self-employed or furloughed individuals, a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis and smoking status.ConclusionsCOVID-19 restrictions decreased alcohol consumption for the majority of individuals in this study. However, a small proportion increased their consumption; this related to drinking to cope and increased depression and anxiety.
Project description:Switching from higher strength to low- and no-alcohol products could result in consumers buying and drinking fewer grams of ethanol. We undertook a scoping review with systematic searches of English language publications between 1 January 2010 and 17 January 2021 using PubMed and Web of Science, covering production, consumption, and policy drivers related to low- and no-alcohol products. Seventy publications were included in our review. We found no publications comparing a life cycle assessment of health and environmental impacts between alcohol-free and regular-strength products. Three publications of low- and no-alcohol beers found only limited penetration of sales compared with higher strength beers. Two publications from only one jurisdiction (Great Britain) suggested that sales of no- and low-alcohol beers replaced rather than added to sales of higher strength beers. Eight publications indicated that taste, prior experiences, brand, health and wellbeing issues, price differentials, and overall decreases in the social stigma associated with drinking alcohol-free beverages were drivers of the purchase and consumption of low- and no-alcohol beers and wines. Three papers indicated confusion amongst consumers with respect to the labelling of low- and no-alcohol products. One paper indicated that the introduction of a minimum unit price in both Scotland and Wales favoured shifts in purchases from higher- to lower-strength beers. The evidence base for the potential beneficial health impact of low- and no-alcohol products is very limited and needs considerable expansion. At present, the evidence base could be considered inadequate to inform policy.
Project description:Hunter-gatherer populations underwent a mass extinction in the Neolithic, and in present times face challenges such as explicit sedentarisation policies. An exception is in Nepal, where the nomadic Raute people receive monthly governmental individual payments. One consequence of the money transfers has been a significant increase in alcohol consumption, with nearly all individuals drinking industrially produced alcohol. Here we investigate the Raute demography based on a full census of 144 individuals. We show that the Raute exhibit the short life expectancies typical of other hunter-gatherer populations from Africa, Asia and America. Bayesian survival trajectory analysis demonstrated that heavy drinking by either parent substantially reduces offspring survival to age 15. Bayesian regressions revealed a significant effect of heavy drinking on maternal fertility by decreasing the number of living children and reducing the proportion of live children at the end of maternal reproductive life. Although the absence of data prior to monetary support precludes a direct assessment of long-term demographic trends, relatively stable population sizes over the last decades and a fertility rate close to the replacement rate rule out an imminent population crash. Further studies are required to elucidate the Rautes' origins and relationship with other nomadic people in the region.