A new study shows that increased alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to more cases of gastrointestinal and liver diseases, Medscape reported May 17.
Study author Waihong Chung, MD, PhD, is a research fellow at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, R.I. He and his colleagues began the study after noticing an uptick in patients with alcohol-related GI and liver diseases.
The study was conducted between March 23 and May 10, 2020, and again between June 1 and July 19, 2020. Seventy percent of the patients in the study were men. The median age of those studied was 56 years during the lockdown period and 51 years during the reopening phase. Results of the study were shared during the Digestive Disease Week preview media briefing.
The rate of diseases associated with increased alcohol consumption after the start of the pandemic rose by approximately 60 percent compared to the same time period in 2019. The rate of patients with alcohol-related conditions remained elevated by 79 percent during the reopening period. Patients diagnosed with alcoholic hepatitis increased by 127 percent, and patients who required an inpatient endoscopy jumped from 14 percent to 35 percent.
Because symptoms of alcohol-related GI and liver diseases sometimes do not show up until later in the course of the diseases, Dr. Chung suggested doctors ask their patients about their alcohol consumption. Despite the study being conducted by a hospital systemwide audit, Dr. Chung believes it is a reflection of a wider problem because not all people with alcohol use disorders are admitted to a hospital.