Drinking Alcohol in Late Adolescence Tied to Higher Risk of Liver Disease (Study)

(Mirror Daily, United States) – New research suggests that there is a link between drinking alcohol in late adolescence and higher risk of liver disease in men later in life.

Researchers warn that current guidelines for men when it comes to alcohol consumption are too lax.

A research team at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, analyzed how alcohol consumption in teen years affects the male body later in life. While sifting through data, scientists found some worrying associations between alcohol and several health risks.

The study revealed that current safety guidelines on drinking may be too permissive.

Lead author Hannes Hagström explained that there is a statistically significant link between alcohol consumption in late adolescence and higher risk of deadly liver disease also known as cirrhosis in adulthood.

Alcohol has been associated with major negative health outcomes like heart disease and cancer for years. Now, we can add fatal liver disease to the list if the user had at least two drinks per day in his teen years.

Current Guidelines for Alcohol Consumption May Be Too Lax

In the United States, men are advised to have only two drinks per day, while women are advised to have one drink per day. A drink equals 0.6 ounces (14 gr) of alcohol. Yet, the new study suggests that these guidelines may be too permissive as drinking in teen years is riskier for men than previously thought.

Dr. Hagström’s team, though, couldn’t offer a “safe cut-off” for men.

The study results appeared in the Journal of Hepatology.

The latest research focused mainly on the health outcomes of alcohol drinking in teen years. In the study, the research team combed through data on 49,000 men in the 18-20 age bracket who were tracked between 1969 and 1970. Participants had been monitored for liver disease by late 2009.

The study shows that young men who drank alcohol in their late teen years had a higher risk of liver disease later in life than their peers who stayed away from alcohol.
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John Birks

John holds a diploma in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He covers the technology, social media, green business, eco-travel, politics, arts culture.