LOS ANGELES\u00a0\u2014\u00a0People may assume that if they drink lightly during the week or month,\u00a0heavy\u00a0drinking on\u00a0the occasional\u00a0Friday or Saturday\u00a0may not cause their liver harm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New research suggests otherwise,\u00a0according to a\u00a0Keck Medicine of USC<\/a>\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0published today in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.\u00a0<\/p>\n Researchers discovered that people with metabolic dysfunction\u2013associated\u00a0steatotic\u00a0liver disease (MASLD), the most common liver condition in the country affecting one-in-three adults, face significantly higher risk of liver fibrosis, or harmful scarring of the liver, if they engage in episodic heavy drinking.\u00a0Episodic heavy drinking is four or more drinks in\u00a0one\u00a0day for women and five or more drinks in\u00a0one\u00a0day for men, at least once a month.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Those who consume\u00a0large amounts\u00a0of alcohol in a single day at least once per month are three times more likely to develop advanced liver fibrosis than individuals who spread\u00a0out\u00a0the same total alcohol intake over time, according to the findings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Younger adults\u00a0and men were more likely to report\u00a0episodic heavy drinking, and\u00a0the more drinks consumed\u00a0at one time, the more liver fibrosis\u00a0people tended to have.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis study is a huge wake-up call because traditionally,\u00a0physicians have tended to\u00a0look at the total amount of alcohol consumed, not\u00a0how\u00a0it is consumed,\u00a0when determining the risk\u00a0to the liver,\u201d said\u00a0Brian P. Lee, MD, MAS<\/a>, a hepatologist and liver transplant specialist with Keck Medicine and principal investigator of the study. \u201cOur research suggests\u00a0that the\u00a0public needs to be much more aware of the danger of occasional heavy drinking and should\u00a0avoid it even if they\u00a0drink moderately\u00a0the rest of the time.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n How the study was conducted<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Lee and his colleagues\u00a0used data from the\u00a0nationally\u00a0representative\u00a0National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,\u00a0a long-running\u00a0health\u00a0survey\u00a0of the\u00a0United States\u00a0population.\u00a0They included data from more than 8,000 adults, collected between 2017 and 2023.\u00a0In particular, they\u00a0looked at the link between episodic heavy drinking and advanced liver fibrosis\u00a0to understand how drinking patterns\u00a0\u2014\u00a0not just total drinks\u00a0\u2014\u00a0may cause harm\u00a0even\u00a0to\u00a0moderate drinkers, which is\u00a0considered\u00a0seven drinks a week for women and 14 or less for men.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The research team\u00a0focused on MASLD\u00a0because of its prevalence among Americans. MASLD\u00a0affects people with excess weight,\u00a0obesity\u00a0or other metabolic conditions, such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood\u00a0pressure\u00a0or high cholesterol, and is on the rise.\u00a0Additionally,\u00a0while MASLD is not defined as alcohol-related, Lee and his colleagues wanted to explore if alcohol did in fact play some role in the condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n More than one-half of the adults\u00a0included in the study\u00a0reported episodic heavy\u00a0drinking\u00a0and\u00a0almost 16%\u00a0of patients with MASLD were episodic heavy drinkers.\u00a0<\/p>\n The researchers compared people with MASLD with the same age,\u00a0sex\u00a0and average\u00a0weekly alcohol consumption,\u00a0segmenting\u00a0some as episodic heavy drinkers and others as non-episodic heavy drinkers,\u00a0to reach their conclusion that episodic heavy drinkers with MASLD\u00a0had\u00a0nearly three\u00a0times higher odds of\u00a0experiencing\u00a0advanced\u00a0liver fibrosis.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Lee\u00a0speculates\u00a0that\u00a0episodic heavy drinking can harm the liver both directly and indirectly. Drinking\u00a0large amounts\u00a0of alcohol at once can overwhelm the liver and increase inflammation,\u00a0which leads to scarring and damage.\u00a0People with MASLD may be particularly at risk,\u00a0as\u00a0Lee\u2019s\u00a0previous\u00a0research<\/a>\u00a0has shown that\u00a0obesity, high blood\u00a0pressure\u00a0and other conditions\u00a0associated with\u00a0MASLD\u00a0can\u00a0more than double\u00a0liver disease risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n