United States: Medical professionals recommend avoiding alcohol within set limits for persons with belly fat, diabetes, or hypertension because excessive drinking increases your risk of hepatic illness.
More about the news
A recent Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology publication reported that diabetic patients and people with abdominal obesity who consume high levels of alcohol develop double the likelihood of liver tissue damage and fibrosis.
Those who engaged in heavy drinking and had high blood pressure developed this condition at double the typical rate.
According to the lead study author, Dr. Brian Lee, “The results identify a very high-risk segment of the population prone to liver disease and suggest that preexisting health issues may have a large impact on how alcohol affects the liver,” US News reported.
Among the metabolic risk factors, obesity indicates a waist measurement of 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men, and such measurements increase the risk for liver disease, according to experts.
What are the experts stating?
Navarro and colleagues identified that half of all US adults suffer from high blood pressure while 1 in 3 possess prediabetic conditions, and obesity affects 40 percent of Americans based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.
As per Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colo., “Most people don’t realize this, but before one develops diabetes, for example, they typically first develop fatty liver,” US News reported.
“It has to do with sugar dysregulation — when you have high blood sugars, your liver is storing fat to get rid of some of that sugar, and it’s that excess fat that impairs liver function,” Freeman added.
Study in details
The research evaluated information from 41,000 participants, among which 2,200 were heavy alcohol consumers.
The heavy drinkers are likely to be identified as:
- More than 0.7 ounces (20 grams) of alcohol daily for women.
- More than 1.05 ounces (30 grams) daily for men.
But, the CDC is said to consider the amount of alcohol as “moderate.”
In America, the amount of pure liquor that makes up a standard drink is 0.6 ounces or 14 grams.
Each drink serving includes five ounces of wine with 12 percent alcohol content and a 12-ounce beer with 5 percent alcohol, as well as one and a half ounces of liquor (80 proof) or distilled spirits.
Most individuals do not recognize the amount of alcohol they actually consume.
“If a restaurant came out and poured you five ounces of wine, you’d complain that they didn’t fill your glass. People are probably drinking much more than they realize,” Freeman noted.