Drinkers warned to cut down alcohol intake amid ‘liver disease crisis’ 

WINE O'CLOCK: Gastroenterologist Frank Murray warns that liver damage and cirrhosis can affect habitual drinkers and not just people dependent on alcohol. Stock picture: Alamy

Habitual drinkers are being advised to “cut down substantially” on their wine and pints as new research warns of an “escalating public health crisis” from liver disease across Europe.

Reports published today by the New Lancet Commission say that almost 780 people die every day in Europe from cirrhosis or liver cancer — a death toll that has risen 50% since 2000.

They say while European countries have made progress against heart disease and cancer generally, liver disease is one of the few major noncommunicable diseases still growing.

“Current data should be a wake-up call. In the WHO European Region, cirrhosis and liver cancer cause nearly 780 deaths every day — 3% of all deaths,” WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge said.

“Tackling the shared risk factors that drive liver disease, including alcohol, unhealthy diets, and viral hepatitis, needs to be an integral part of broader response to noncommunicable diseases.”

The commission calls for “urgent action” including stronger regulation of “marketing, pricing, and availability of alcohol and unhealthy foods”.

It said this should include health warning labels on alcohol products and restrictions on digital marketing, particularly that aimed at young people.

Consultant gastroenterologist at Bons Secours Hospital in Dublin Professor Frank Murray, who sat on the commission, said their findings and recommendations were “highly considered” and based on a huge amount of research and data analysis on liver disease in Europe.

“For most people the biggest effect is from alcohol, so it is completely preventable,” he said. “The most prominent cause of death, particularly in countries like Britain, Ireland, France and Germany, is alcohol.”

He said the highest drinking group in Europe are men, who drink, on average, 31 units of alcohol a week.

That’s equivalent to more than 15 pints or four-and-a-half bottles of wine. Prof Murray said: 

Unfortunately, Europeans, including Irish people, are drinking far too heavily. 

“Most of that falls on men, though the gap between men and women has reduced.”

He said the danger of liver damage and liver cirrhosis, which in general is “irreversible”, is not just from people dependent on alcohol, but also habitual drinkers.

He said people drinking half a bottle of wine most nights during the week and then a bottle of wine each night at the weekend are in real danger.

“I would say to move drinking as a routine, to drinking as a treat and don’t drink during the week,” Prof Murray said. 

“People need to cut down substantially, drink much less, and set targets for yourself.”

Prof Murray, who is also chairman of Alcohol Action Ireland, said the industry “needs to pay for the harm”, considering it earns “huge profits”. He said alcohol warning labels were supposed to be introduced in Ireland next month, but that the government postponed it for two years.

• Cormac O’Keeffe, Security Correspondent