As living standards improve, more and more people are drinking alcohol today. And while people are shouting "Cheers, cheers, cheers," the silent killer of alcoholic liver disease is creeping closer, becoming the second-largest cause of liver disease, second only to viral hepatitis. According to a report from the 2008 Second Lingnan Love Liver Festival · Alcoholic Liver Disease Expert Forum, research shows that if a person consumes more than 48 grams of alcohol per day for five consecutive years, 32% of them will develop alcoholic liver disease to varying degrees.
According to Yang Jiong, Executive Vice President of the Guangdong Lingnan Liver Disease Research Institute, if a person consumes more than 48 grams of alcohol per day for five consecutive years, 32% of them will develop alcoholic liver disease to varying degrees. The formula for calculating alcohol intake is: Intake × Alcohol Content × 0.8 = Alcohol Intake. Taking beer as an example: 750ml × 0.08 × 0.8 = 48 grams. This means that drinking one bottle of beer a day significantly increases the risk of developing alcoholic liver disease. Currently, the prevalence of alcoholic liver disease in China is 4.34%, with a male-to-female ratio of 8:1. Additionally, a survey of over 300 patients by the institute showed that the onset of alcoholic liver disease is clearly becoming younger, accounting for about 60% of new cases of cirrhosis. Among these patients, 80% are around 40 years old, with the youngest patient being only 26 years old.
Journalists have learned that influenced by the traditional drinking culture of "no alcohol, no banquet" and social needs, many people have become alcohol-dependent. A common phrase among patients is, "I have to drink, there's no other way, I have to socialize." Among the people surveyed, 97% know that "drinking alcohol damages the liver," yet 80% still drink helplessly. Yang Jiong emphasized that regardless of the amount of alcohol consumed—be it liquor, red wine, or beer—for a liver already compromised by the hepatitis B virus, it is an added blow. For patients with hepatitis B, drinking is equivalent to chronic suicide. For patients with alcoholic liver disease, there is no more effective treatment than quitting alcohol. On the premise of quitting alcohol, appropriate drug treatment according to China's "Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Alcoholic Liver Disease" can reverse most of the damage. For an "alcoholic," it is never too late to quit drinking. Regarding the numerous "hangover and liver protection" products on the market, experts state that their ingredients are mostly stimulants, vitamins, and amino acids, which only provide a placebo effect and relief from headaches. They cannot sober you up, let alone protect the liver. The only way to protect the liver is to quit drinking.