Hispanics at High Risk for Alcohol-Related Liver Diseases

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Hispanics at High Risk for Alcohol-Related Liver Diseases

Study shows Hispanics are more at risk for developing an alcohol-related liver disease at an earlier age than Caucasians or blacks.

Researchers from the study, which was published in the Journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, analyzed the medical records of over 800 patients at the University of California, Davis Medical Center, who were treated for an alcohol-related liver disease between the years 2002 and 2010. They specifically looked at the link between ethnicity and problems of the liver.

The results showed that the Hispanics admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with a liver disease were 4 to 10 years younger than the Caucasians and blacks admitted for the same illnesses. They also found that Hispanics were more obese and had a higher rate of diabetes, but these factors did not interfere with the liver diseases.

This study was not the first to point out that Hispanics have a higher risk factor of alcohol-related liver disease and alcoholism. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism lists Hispanics as a special population with a high risk of alcoholism.

This study and its results opens up options for future studies on how ethnicity affects addiction and alcoholism.