A new study shows alcohol-related liver deaths are rising sharply among women and young adults post-pandemic. Women’s death rates grew twice as fast as men’s due to biological differences in alcohol processing. Young adults aged 25-44 saw the steepest increase in fatal alcohol-linked hepatitis cases. Experts warn the full impact of pandemic-era drinking may not be evident for another decade.
June 16, 2025
Study shows alcohol-linked liver deaths rising in women, young adults
"The pandemic itself came under control,
but the disparities that came with it continued and lingered" – Dr. Nasim
Maleki, Harvard Medical School
Alcohol-related liver disease deaths are
increasing rapidly among women and young adults, according to new research.
Key Points
1 Women’s ALD death rates rose 4.3% yearly, double
men’s
2 Young adults saw highest hepatitis death surge
3 Biologically, women metabolize alcohol slower than
men
4 Pandemic drinking and obesity worsened long-term
liver risks
Researchers from the Universities Havard,
Stanford, and Southern California (USC) attributed the rise to higher drinking
during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to increasing health problems like
obesity and high blood pressure.
"The pandemic itself came under control,
but the disparities that came with it continued and lingered," said Dr.
Nasim Maleki, a psychiatry professor at Harvard Medical School.
The findings, published in JAMA Network Open,
based on death certificates from across the US showed that between 2018 and
2022, deaths from alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) rose nearly 9 per cent
a year. Between 2006 and 2018, ALD deaths stood at 3.5 per cent per year.
While men still had the highest number of
deaths -- 17 per 100,000 people -- women's death rates grew faster.
In 2022, eight of every 100,000 women died
from ALD, up from three per 100,000 over the study period. Women's death rates
rose by about 4.3 per cent each year, nearly twice the rate of men.
One reason women may be affected more is
because of how the body processes alcohol.
Biologically, women are less able to break
down alcohol than men. That means even a little drinking can have a bigger
impact on their organs over time, the researchers explained.
Further, young adults between ages 25 and 44
were found to have the biggest yearly increase in deaths from
alcohol-associated hepatitis between 1999 and 2022.
"Alcohol-related cirrhosis takes time to
develop. So we may not see the true extent of the consequences until five,
probably 10, years from now, which is very concerning," said Dr. Robert
Wong, a liver specialist at Stanford University.
Recent research showed a spike in the number
of annual alcohol deaths due to cancer.
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