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Increased drinking during pandemic will lead to more health problems ─Study

Alcohol Drinker

*Researchers say consumers’ drinking habits impacted their short- and long-term health outcomes during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and cases of liver disease will likely spike by 2,800 additional cases by 2023

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Health experts have said several consumers have turned to alcohol more frequently since the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as a way to relieve stress. However, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, in the United States (US), in a study noted that this increased rate of drinking will lead to more cases of liver disease, and will result in more deaths, agency report said.

The research team came to that conclusion after analysing how consumers’ drinking habits impacted their short- and long-term health outcomes amid the damaging pandemic.

Dr. Turgay Ayer, one of the researchers, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has had many unintended consequences with unknown long-term impact.

“Our modelling study provides a framework for quantifying the long-term impact of increased alcohol consumption associated with COVID-19, and initiating conversations for potential interventions.”

Drinking habits amid COVID-19 can have long-term effects

The researchers, in all, learned that the rate of binge drinking increased by over 20 percent in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These drinking habits are likely to significantly impact consumers’ health and longevity in the short term and long term.

According to experts, if these drinking patterns remain consistent, liver failure is expected to spike by 2,800 additional cases by 2023.

By 2040, the team anticipates an extra 1,000 cases of liver cancer and an additional 18,700 cases of liver failure.

Alcohol-related deaths were also predicted to increase by 8,000 within the next two decades.

Nonetheless, the researchers hope these findings influence policy changes related to binge drinking so consumers can avoid these health outcomes.

Researcher Jovan Julien said: “While we have projected the expected impact of societal drinking changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic without any interventions, we hope that our research can help jumpstart needed conversations at every level of society about how we can respond to the many behavioural changes, coping mechanisms, and choices that have short- and long-term implications for the health of individuals, families, and communities in America.”

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